Haryana Congress MLAs on Friday mandated party chief Sonia Gandhi to decide who will lead the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) amid an evident push by some of them, loyalists of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, that they be heard before a final decision is made.
Beside state leaders, the party’s state in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad and central observer Madhusudan Mistry also attended a CLP meeting that began with Congress’s Haryana president Kumari Selja moving a resolution unanimously authorising Gandhi to choose the CLP leader. The resolution was seconded by former CLP leaders Kiran Choudhry and Hooda.
It was at this point that several MLAs including Geeta Bhukkal and B B Batra, who belong to the Hooda camp, asked Mistry to find out the preference of all the MLAs prior to a final decision.
Of the total 31 Congress MLAs, 24 belong to the Hooda camp. The remaining were nominated to contest the October 21 assembly elections at the behest of Kumari Selja and former Haryana unit chief Ashok Tanwar
Conceding the demand, Mistry subsequently met all Congress legislators separately to inquire about their choice for the post of CLP leader.
{{/usCountry}}Conceding the demand, Mistry subsequently met all Congress legislators separately to inquire about their choice for the post of CLP leader.
{{/usCountry}}“It is the party’s tradition to authorise the Central leadership to take a final call on the Congress legislative party leader,” Selja said.