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Former Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday appeared set to become Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha after his appointment as Leader of the Congress in the upper House. Anand Sharma, another minister in the previous United Progressive Alliance government, was made deputy leader of the party, Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.
Since the Congress has the requisite number to claim the LoP post in the House, Azad would be the natural choice. The Congress has 67 members in the 245-member House, meeting the requirement of having at least 10 per cent of the total strength to get the post. The two key appointments come on the back of the party making Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit leader from Karnataka, the Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha and former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh the deputy leader in the lower House.
