Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi has been appointed as party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu as its whip in the Lower House of Parliament by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday, reported PTI.

The development were confirmed by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the leader of the opposition party in the Lok Sabha, and K Suresh, its chief whip in the Lower House.

These developments came ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which is likely to commence from September 14. According to PTI, this move by the Congress is seen as a step to strengthen its team of floor leaders in the Lower House.

The Congress did not have a deputy leader in the Lok Sabha till now.

Bittu is a three-time MP from Punjab and has been entrusted with the responsibility of the Congress whip in the Lok Sabha. Another MP from Tamil Nadu, Manickam Tagore, is the other whip of the party in the Lower House.

MP from the Kaliabor Lok Sabha constituency, Gogoi was the party’s whip in the House till now and has been elevated.

Gogoi is the son of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi. 

During the previous Lok Sabha, Amarinder Singh was the deputy leader of the Congress, before he became the chief minister of Punjab.