Congress appoints Gaurav Gogoi as party's Dy Leader of Lok Sabha after stormy CWC meet

In a major move, Congress Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi, on Thursday has been appointed as Congress' Lok Sabha Deputy leader while Ravneet Bittu has been appointed as party's whip on Thursday. The 37-year-old Kaliabor Lok Sabha MP, who is the son of former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi has been an MP in the lower parliamentary house since 2014. Gogoi was appointed as a part of the 5-member committee to discuss and formulate the Party’s stand on key ordinances promulgated by the Centre, ahead of the monsoon session.

Congress constitutes 5-member body to decide party's stance on Centre's ordinances

Gogoi appointed Congress' Lok Sabha Dy. leader

Lok Sabha suspends 7 Congress MPs for rest of Budget session after voice vote over ruckus

Gogoi suspended in the Budget session

On March 5, seven Congress Lok Sabha MPs were suspended by the Lok Sabha for the rest of the Budget session in connection to the ruckus created in Parliament over Delhi riots. The seven MPs include Gaurav Gogoi, TN Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, R Unnithan, Manickam Tagore, Benny Behnan, Gurjit Aujla after they stormed the well of the House with placards and shouted slogans against the government over Delhi violence - seeking resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah. Gogoi had said that inspite of his suspension, he wished the debate on the Delhi riots continues.

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Congress squashes dissent

Quashing all internal dissent, Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday, retained Sonia Gandhi as party chief till elections are called for in the next AICC meeting. Moreover, it passed a resolution strengthening the Gandhis' leadership and not allowing anyone to undermine the party or the Gandhis (Rahul and Sonia). When asked if action will be taken on the 23 dissenters, CWC said that Sonia Gandhi was hurt, but did not hold any grudges against them. Gogoi had tweeted support for the Congress amid the internal turmoils stating 'it was the most democratic set-up'.

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The 23 senior leaders sought 'structural changes', internal election to the CWC even at state levels, the formation of an Independent Election Authority, and institutional leadership mechanism, full-time leadership at the helm at the party.  The 23 signatories include Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Rajender Kaur Bhattal, M. Veerappa Moily, Prithviraj Chavan, P.J. Kurian, Ajay Singh, Renuka Chaudhary, and Milind Deora -  belonging from the Congress' 'old guard ' and the 'young guard' (i.e Rahul Gandhi supporters). Apart from these signatories, over 300 Congress workers support it.