The Congress on Tuesday chose feisty Bengal MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to be the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha.

Senior leaders had initially hoped Rahul Gandhi would take that responsibility but he wasn’t willing. Some leaders felt this would send out a wrong message as Rahul should be seen leading from the front.

Rahul has relinquished the post of party president too and there is no clarity yet on his successor. At Tuesday’s strategy-session meet, this issue wasn’t even discussed.

“The leader of the party in the Lok Sabha is a full-time job; you have to be fully engaged in proceedings. Rahul Gandhi is very much involved but he will have a larger role to play outside Parliament, across the country,” one senior leader said.

“Rahul has assured that he would struggle hard and concentrate on rebuilding the political opposition to Narendra Modi. But he felt somebody else should be made the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha. Sonia Gandhi is heading the parliamentary party and Rahul holding another key post wasn’t good in terms of optics.”

While seniority was one of the factors that went in favour of Chowdhury, a fifth-term MP, his combativeness was also seen as an asset.

K. Suresh, a seven-term Kerala MP, had also been considered.

Another contender, Manish Tiwari, is more articulate and politically suave but is only a second-term MP, while few leaders were in favour of the flamboyant Shashi Tharoor.

Chowdhury can speak both English and Hindi and was part of the fighting brigade in the previous Lok Sabha along with Jyotiraditya Scindia, Deepender Hooda, Rajiv Satav and Sushmita Dev. He now steps into the shoes of the veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, who made an impact as the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha in the previous House.

While Kharge commanded respect because of his seniority and experience, Chowdhury will have to work harder to establish his credentials as a serious opponent.

Asked if the Congress would continue to be aggressive, as it was between 2014 and 2019 although the party had barely 45 MPs, Chowdhury told The Telegraph: “We are for constructive criticism. Even in the last Lok Sabha, we raised genuine issues, we talked about people’s problems only. Victories don’t change the ground reality — it is indisputable that the farm and job crises continue to trouble people and the Narendra Modi government will be held accountable and answerable.”

Chowdhury described himself as a foot soldier of the Congress. “I thank my leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for giving me this responsibility. I have been asked to stand in the front. I will do my duty with honesty and sincerity.”

Asked if he got the job because of his image as a fighter, he said: “I am a grassroots politician. I know people’s miseries, I have seen their sufferings. I will continue to fight for the poor and the oppressed. But my approach will be constructive.”

On the Prime Minister’s remark on Monday that every word of the Opposition was precious and numerical limitations shouldn’t matter, he said: “The Prime Minister’s preaching is rarely implemented. It will be good if ministers and BJP members follow the Prime Minister and heed what the Opposition says. Our experience in the previous Lok Sabha has been different. The Opposition’s voice cannot be suppressed or ignored in a democracy. We hope the BJP honours the good words of Modiji.”

Chowdhury has won five consecutive terms in the Lok Sabha and was one of only two Congress candidates who won in Bengal.