The Congress on Wednesday appointed MPs Syed Naseer Hussain and Chhaya Verma as its whips in the Rajya Sabha, a party statement said.
“Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has appointed MPs Syed Naseer Hussain and Chhaya Verma as whips of Congress Parliamentary Party in Rajya Sabha,” the party statement by Congress chief whip in the Upper House Jairam Ramesh said.
The role of a whip in the House is to ensure party discipline. They are the party’s “enforcers” and one of the key roles is to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party’s official policy.
The move is being seen as an attempt by Congress to strengthen its floor management in Rajya Sabha, where party leader Mallikarjun Kharge is the Leader of Opposition and Anand Sharma is deputy leader of the Congress in the upper house.