Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi was appointed as the party’s deputy leader in the 18th Lok Sabha on Sunday.

Senior party leader Kodikunnil Suresh was made the Congress’ chief whip in the Lok Sabha, party General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said.

While Gogoi is a three-time Lok Sabha MP and represents Assam’s Jorhat constituency, Suresh, an eight-term legislator, represents Kerala’s Mavelikara parliamentary seat.

Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore and Kishanganj MP Mohammad Jawed will be the party’s whips in the Lower House.

“Guided by LoP [Leader of Opposition in Upper House] Rahul Gandhi ji, the Congress and INDIA parties will energetically champion the people’s causes in the Lok Sabha,” Venugopal said in a social media post.

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla informing him about the appointments, Venugopal added.

In June, the Congress and the Opposition INDIA bloc had fielded Suresh as their candidate for the Lok Sabha speaker’s position, forcing an election for the post for the first time in several decades.

Rahul Gandhi, as the Leader of Opposition in the 18th Lok Sabha, is also the Congress’ leader in the House.

During the 17th Lok Sabha between 2019 and 2024, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was the Congress’ leader in the Lower House with Gogoi as his deputy starting from 2020.