Cong MLAs in MP, Rajasthan ask Rahul to decide on CM choices

Bhopal/Raipur, December 12

Newly-elected Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday asked Rahul Gandhi to nominate the new legislature party leader, while party legislators in Rajasthan said the party president will decide on the chief ministerial choice tomorrow.

At a meeting in Bhopal in the evening, the MP Congress MLAs unanimously passed a resolution authorising Gandhi to name the CLP leader.

"The resolution was moved by senior MLA Arif Aqueel and seconded by other MLAs. They passed it unanimously, authorising the Congress president to nominate the legislature party leader," state Congress media cell chairperson, Shobha Oza told reporters.

The meeting lasted for about two hours, she said. Senior Congress leaders A K Antony and Bhanwar Jitendra Singh attended the meeting as the central observers.

Oza said Gandhi will be conveyed the decision of the newly-elected MLAs, after which he will name the CLP leader. The observers are also talking to the MLAs to seek their views, she said.

All the four independent MLAs, elected in the November 28 poll, were also present in the meeting, she said.

The Congress Wednesday emerged as the single largest party in the state by winning 114 seats, two short of a simple majority of 116 in 230-member house and claimed that it has the support of 121 members.

BSP supremo Mayawati Wednesday morning extended support of her party to the Congress.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhhan Wednesday tendered his resignation to Governor Anandiben Patel, who met a Congress delegation here at noon after the party leaders wrote to her last night, seeking a chance to form the new government in the central Indian state.

Meanwhile, as a Congress delegation headed for Raj Bhawan to stake claim to form government in Rajasthan, party MLA Parsadi Lal Meena said Rahul Gandhi will decide on Rajasthan CM tomorrow.

The Congress was also poised to form governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, signalling a newfound energy in the party ranks and energising opposition efforts to stop the BJP juggernaut before the general election next year.

Belying predictions of exit polls, the Congress won convincingly in Chhattisgarh, less so in Rajasthan, and scraped through with a wafer-thin lead in Madhya Pradesh, final results showed after the vote count on Tuesday.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi described the party’s good showing in the Hindi heartland states as a victory over the BJP’s “negative politics”.

It was a “Congress victory over the BJP’s negative politics,” she said.

In Rajasthan, the contenders for the chief minister’s post are Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, both of whom won huge victories in their constituencies.

“We have full majority and will stake claim to form government in the evening. We will take along all non-BJP parties and elected members who are against the BJP and are willing to support us,” Pilot told reporters at the Pradesh Congress Committee before the Congress Legislature Party meeting.

Asked about the choice of the chief minister, Pilot said the party’s newly elected MLAs would debate the question, and the party president would take a decision after that. AICC general secretary Avinash Pande and party observer KC Venugopal will seek individual opinion of the party MLAs in the meeting.

The Congress emerged as the single-largest party in Rajasthan in Tuesday’s vote count, winning 99 seats. Its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) won one seat for a total of 100 seats--the required number to form government.

The BJP got 73 seats, and the Bahujan Samaj Party won six. BSP leader Mayawati on Wednesday pledged support for the Congress. The CPI (M) got two seats, Independents won 13 and other parties got six, according to the state Election Commission.

In Chhattisgarh, the contenders for the CM post are Lok Sabha member Tamradhwaj Sahu, who successfully contested the Assembly election from Durg Rural seat, state party chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior leader TS Singhdeo.

The Congress victory in Chhattisgarh ended the 15-year rule of the Raman Singh-led BJP government. It won 68 seats in the 90-member Assembly, while the BJP got only 15.

A party needs to win 46 seats to form government in the state.

In Mumbai, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the Assembly election results marked the “beginning of a change” and a “rejection” of the BJP-led government’s policies.

Pawar, who turned 78 on Wednesday, said his party would support the Congress and also suggested that the SP and the BSP throw their weight behind the Congress.

Referring to the constant criticism of Rahul Gandhi by the BJP, the former Union minister said people did not like the Congress president being “ridiculed”.

“People have expressed disappointment against the Modi government...the Assembly poll results mark the beginning of a change...people rejected the anti-farmers, anti-traders policies of Modi,” Pawar told reporters.

The Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, said people had brought “those flying in the air back to the ground”.

In an editorial in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the party alleged that the country was being run according to the “whims” of four-five businessmen, and this was “breaking” important institutions like the Reserve Bank of India. — PTI