The Congress on Friday appointed veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge as the party’s general secretary in charge of Maharashtra. He will replace 68-year-old Mohan Prakash.

The 76-year-old, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has been a nine-time member of the Karnataka Assembly and was a former Union minister. After winning nine straight Assembly elections from 1972 to 2004, Kharge became a member of Parliament from Gulbarga, Karnataka, in 2009.

His appointment has led to speculation whether the party will replace him as leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, according to The Hindu.

The Congress also announced the names of three secretaries for the All India Congress Committee in Maharashtra: Sonal Patel from Gujarat, Ashish Dua from Haryana and Sampath Kumar from Telangana.