Congress likely to name Chhattisgarh chief minister today

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday met four senior leaders of the state unit of the party -- Bhupesh Baghel, T S Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charan Das Mahant -- in Delhi and held discussions with them.

Chhattisgarh chief minister probables are closetted in a meeting at Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s house and an announcement on the new chief minister is likely to be made soon.

Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress president Bhupesh Baghel (left) with Congress leader P L Punia after the Congress victory in Chhattisgarh Assembly elections . (Arijit Sen/HT file photo)

The four senior leaders of the state unit of the party -- Bhupesh Baghel, T S Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charan Das Mahant -- are in Delhi for discussions. Deo and Baghel are being seen as leading contenders for the top post.

Congress’ central observer Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC in-charge for party affairs in Chhattisgarh P L Punia were also present at the meeting.

This is the third round of discussion that the Congress chief is holding before selecting the chief minister for Chhattisgarh, where the party romped home to power after 15 years with two-third majority.

Sources said that a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) is slated to be held at 4.00 pm in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. However, it was not clear whether the announcement would be made in the national capital or in Raipur.

The Congress Friday named Ashok Gehlot Rajasthan’s next chief minister after several rounds of discussions lasting more than two days. In Madhya Pradesh, Congress leader Kamal Nath was made chief minister-designate on December 13.

Congress ended the BJP’s 15-year rule in Chhattisgarh in the recently concluded Assembly elections by winning 68 of the 90 seats in the results announced on December 11.

The decisive mandate, a huge setback for outgoing CM Raman Singh, also dashed former chief minister Ajit Jogi’s hopes of emerging as the kingmaker in the state.

Jogi started Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) after quitting the Congress in June 2016. He tried to make the contest in the electorally bi-polar Chhattisgarh triangular and got into a pre-poll alliance with former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI).

But, the bureaucrat-turned-politician ended with just five seats and the BSP two.

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