Jyotiraditya tipped to be Cong deputy leader in LS

New Delhi: In the ongoing AICC reshuffle, Jyotiraditya Scindia is expected to be the next deputy leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha. He will replace Amarinder Singh, who has resigned from Parliament after becoming chief minister of Punjab.

Mr Scindia, a four-time Lok Sabha MP and a former Union minister, is said to be close to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and plays a key role in the party’s floor management in the Lower House.

The only possible hitch is that Mr Kamal Nath is the party’s seniormost Lok Sabha MP, and bypassing him and making Mr Scindia deputy leader could send the wrong message.

There is talk in party circles that Mr Nath could be made PCC chief in Madhya Pradesh, which will go to the polls in November next year, and where the Congress is keen to project someone as its “face” well in advance.

The Congress state unit in MP is extremely faction ridden, with groups loyal to Digvijay Singh, Mr Scindia, current PCC chief Arun Yadav, CLP leader Rahul Singh (son of veteran party leader Arjun Singh), Suresh Pachauri and Satyavrat Chaturvedi. to balance this, Mr Kamal Nath may be made the new PCC chief.