Chidambaram and Ananad Sharma vie for LoO post in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Anand Sharma are in the fray for the post of leader of opposition in Upper House of the parliament after party appointed Ghulam Nabi Azad as the in charge general secretary of Uttar Pradesh.

Azad may quit the chair of leader of opposition due to high-pressure assignment in Uttar Pradesh Congress as the assembly elections are scheduled in the state in 2017 and it was an onerous task to strengthen the beleaguered party in the biggest state of India, internal party sources informed.

The present leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha had handled the Uttar Pradesh wing of Congress earlier also and party president Sonia Gandhi has shown full faith on him as he is very well aware of the problems in the hindi heartland and well versed with the current political scenario.

The leader of opposition in both the houses of parliament gets the rank of a cabinet minister thus the tug of war between Anand Sharma and Chidambaram has started and both the leaders are leaving no stone unturned to grab this opportunity.

Sharma, who presently holds the portfolio of deputy leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha may get a chance on the basis of his oratory skills and aggressive attitude in the parliament but the only factor against him is the seniority of Chidambaram.

Chidambaram, the south Indian rider is on a back foot for being weak in Hindi and also for the name of his son Kirti Chidambaram has been floated in the case of several companies and disproportionate assets.

The other factor that is making sand slip from Chidambaram’s pocket is that he did not contest the last Lok Sabha elections with the fear that he might lose and Congress was numbered in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

While an anti-Chidambaram group in the Congress have approached the party president Sonia Gandhi advocating Anand Sharma for the applicable post. If party sources are to be believed then Chidambaran has penned down a confidential letter to party president requesting her to show faith in him.