Sushma Swaraj appears to be front-runner for the post of Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha while it could be a toss-up between M Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley for the post of the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha. The BJP Parliamentary Party will meet on Sunday evening to formally elect leaders for the two posts in both the Houses of Parliament. Sources said S S Ahluwalia is likely to become the Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha,sources said. Sushma is likely to be chosen as some of the veterans are too senior to occupy the post of Deputy Leader of the Opposition. L K Advani will be the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha after he is formally elected leader of BJP in the Lower House,a post which he did not want to accept in the wake of the recent poll debacle but relented later. However,it is the candidate for the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha which is yet to be finalised. Earlier this week,Jaitley had proposed the name of Naidu for the post and the gesture was reciprocated by the latter leading to a status quo. While Jaitley has in public expressed his unwillingness to handle this responsibility,sources close to him say he has not said a final 'no'. However,BJP leaders are clear that if not Jaitley it could be Naidu who would lead the party in the Upper House.
