Sushil Kumar Shinde is new Lok Sabha Leader of the House

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde will be the new Leader of the House in Lok Sabha. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has nominated Mr Shinde to the post, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

The post of the Leader of House in Lok Sabha was left vacant by President Pranab Mukherjee after he stepped down to fight the presidential elections last month.

71-year-old Mr Shinde is a senior Congress leader from Maharashtra who represents Solapur Lok Sabha constituency in the state. A Dalit leader, he had served as the chief minister of Maharashtra and was a member of the state assembly for seven terms.

Mr Shinde, who was Power Minister, was shifted to Home Ministry on Tuesday. "I am grateful to the Prime Minister and Congress President Sonia Gandhi for nominating me as Leader of the House," he said. He had also been the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.

Apparently his wide experience in four decades in politics and given his affable nature, the Congress leadership may have preferred him over others for the job that requires cooperation from Opposition in transacting business on the floor.

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Under rules, the Prime Minister becomes the Leader of the House if he is a member of Lok Sabha. In other case, he nominates one of the members to be the leader. Manmohan Singh is a Rajya Sabha MP from Guwahati.