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Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Friday appointed Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde the new Leader of the House in Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters here. The 71-year old senior Congressman replaces Pranab Mukherjee as the Leader of the House after the latter assumed office of the President. Shinde represents Solapur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra . A dalit leader, he had served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra and was member of the state assembly for seven terms. Shinde was Power Minister, was shifted to Home Ministry on Tuesday. He had also been 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. 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. Singh is a member of Rajya Sabha and hence he leads the House there.

Shinde is new Leader of the House in Lok Sabha