Khan to be new RS deputy chairman

Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers K Rahman Khan will be the next deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
 
The election is scheduled for July 22.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Khan emerged as the consensus candidate following talks with the leaders of all parties, including those

part of the opposition National Democratic Alliance.

"We had a series of meetings with Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh and Advani. We didn't want to go through the route of election and the quest was to have a consensus," Azad said.

Khan's name was finalised at a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.