Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday, 11 March, appointed Ludhiana Member of Parliament member Ravneet Singh Bittu as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.
Bittu has been given the temporary charge of the position for the ongoing Budget session in the Parliament.
Amid the upcoming state Assembly elections, this development comes after Bengal Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had to leave for campaigning.
As Gaurav Gogoi, deputy leader of Congress in Lok Sabha is also occupied with Assam polls, the Ludhiana MP will have to head the party’s strategy in the Lower House at a time when legislative processes have been halted due to the Opposition’s appeals for suspension of work owing to the hike in fuel prices.
Bittu, who is a three-time MP, was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 from the Anandpur Sahib constituency following which, in 2014 and 2019, he became the MP from Ludhiana.
He is the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and was appointed the whip of the Congress in the Lok Sabha in August.
Bittu has also been at the forefront of the farmers' protests against the three farm laws and was attacked at Delhi’s Singhu border during a demonstration.
As a youth leader in Punjab Youth Congress, he launched a campaign against drug addiction and aided in organising a hunger strike in 2011 for setting up a Drug Prevention Board in the state.
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