New Delhi, May 26: Amid the poll debacle, the Congress has started looking for the new party leader in the Lok Sabha.
Congress leaders want either Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi to take up the responsibility but they also maintain that the duo won't agree for it.
It is notable that both Sonia and Rahul had not become party leader in the Lok Sabha in 2014. The Congress had appointed Scheduled Caste (SC) leader from Karnataka Mallikarjun Kharge as party leader and Captain Amarinder Singh as deputy leader in the Lok Sabha. Since Kharge has faced first defeat in Gulbarga and Captain Amarinder Singh is the Chief Minister of Punjab, therefore the party needs new faces for these posts. According to the sources, the Congress is looking for someone who is fluent both in English as well as in Hindi. Since most of the Congress MPs have been elected from Kerala and Punjab, therefore, Hindi will be a problem. A source tells One India that many leaders in the Congress are now questioning Hindi speaking ability of Kharge. According to the sources, the names of Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari are being considered for the post of party leader in the Lok Sabha. "As far as the experience and exposure is concerned there is no match of Tharoor but the Congress is unlikely to make him party leader in the Lok Sabha because of his lifestyle and the habit of expressing independent views. His alleged involvement in the death of his Sunanda Pushkar is also the main reason that he is unlikely to be selected for the post," says a source. Tharoor has worked with the United Nations and held various important posts before quitting the UN in 2007. His third wife Sunanda was found dead in room number 345 of the Leela Palace hotel in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, On January 17, 2014. In May 2018, Tharoor was charged with abetment to suicide of his wife and marital cruelty under sections 306 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code. If convicted, Tharoor could serve up to 10 years in jail. According to the sources, Mainsh Tewari is the frontrunner for the post as he is also suave, experienced and fluent in English as well as Hindi. He was Union Minister of State, Minister of Information and Broadcasting and a Member of Parliament from Ludhiana from 2009-2014. Currently, he is the spokesperson of the Congress party.