Adhir Chowdhury to be removed as party chief in Lok Sabha? Sonia Gandhi calls July 19 meet

Ahead of the Monsoon session of the Parliament, Congress has called for a meeting of the party's Parliament Strategy Group on July 19. In the meeting, a decision on the party's leadership in the Lok Sabha will also be taken. As per sources, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will be replaced, as the Congress top brass is not happy with his performance. Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Gaurav Gogoi are the frontrunners for the post, sources claim. 

'No change in leadership': Congress

Meanwhile, a senior Congress leader told ANI that there is no change in the team as of now as all the members of the strategy group are being called for the meeting including the leader of the party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. "The decision is expected to be taken only after this meeting. It will be taken by Congress President only," the party leader said. He further, said that the party may opt for the 'One Person One Post' formula and this would entail finding a replacement for Chowdhury, who is chief of Congress in West Bengal. He, however, did not mention any grievances brewing in the Congress' top brass against Chowdhury. 

Asked if Rahul Gandhi could be the party's leader in Lok Sabha in place of Chowdhury,  the senior leader denied the possibility. "Other names can be considered for the post only after the meeting. Till then we can only speculate," he said. 

After Rahul Gandhi refused to continue, Behrampur Member of Parliament Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was made the Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha in 2019. Since that time, he has been holding the post, along with the post of the chief of the Bengal Congress. 

Besides, the decision on the leadership of Lok Sabha, the party in the meeting is also going to decide the issues that are going to be brought up in the session. As per reports, the rafale issue will once again be brought up. The party will demand an investigation by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the Rafale deal.