Sonia Gandhi reshuffles Parliamentary Groups, G-23 leaders get key roles

New Delhi, July 18: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday reconstituted the parliamentary groups in a bid to strategise on the party's stand on various issues raised in the Monsoon Session to be held from Monday.

Interestingly, the Group of 23 dissenting leaders of Congress, commonly known as the G-23, has featured on a list,while Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has managed to retain the post. Reportedly, Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tiwari, among those "G-23" dissenters, will be part of the seven-member group in the Lok Sabha.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, son of late Tarun Gogoi, also retains his post as Chowdhury's deputy. This comes after a section of insiders said Chowdhury would be replaced.

K Suresh will continue as the as chief whip in the Lok Sabha, while Ravneet Singh Bittu and Manickam Tagore were retained as party whips in the reconstituted seven-member Lok Sabha group.

In the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge is the leader of the house, while Anand Sharma, another dissenter, retained his position of the deputy leader.

Jairam Ramesh has been named chief whip in the upper house. Ambika Soni, P Chidambaram, Digvijaya Singh and KC Venugopal make up the other members of this group.

"As chairperson of the CPP, I have decided to reconstitute the following groups to facilitate and ensure the effective functioning of our party in both Houses of Parliament. These groups will meet daily during the session and can meet during the inter-session periods as well where Parliament issues are concerned," Sonia Gandhi stated.

"Joint meetings of these groups can be convened as and when needed. Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader Rajya Sabha shall be the convener of the joint meetings," she added.