Bhopal/Jaipur: The newly-elected Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Wednesday left it to Congress president Rahul Gandhi the issue of deciding as to who would be the Chief Ministers in the two states.
A resolution to this effect was passed at a meeting of the respective legislature parties in the presence of central observers and the Chief Ministerial aspirants – Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh and Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan.
Congress leader Shobha Oza told reporters in Bhopal that the newly-elected MLAs passed a resolution urging Gandhi to take a call on the Chief Minister’s name. The meeting was presided over by central observer AK Antony. Similarly, the newly-elected legislators in Rajasthan also met in the presence of central observer KC Venugopal and adopted a resolution leaving the final decision to the party president.
While former chief minister Ashol Gehlot and Pradesh Congress Committee president Pilot contested and won the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, both Nath and Scindia are members of Lok Sabha and did not contest the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh.
In both the states, the party had not named any chief ministerial candidate ahead of the elections.
“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 BJP and are willing to support us,” Pilot told reporters at the PCC before the Congress Legislative Party meeting.
The Congress emerged as the single-largest party in Rajasthan, winning 99 seats. Its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal won one seat for a total of 100 seats — the required number to form government.
All eyes now were on party president Rahul Gandhi’s choice of chief ministers of the three states, which he will decide after the victorious MLAs finish their meetings in the three states.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi described the party’s good showing in the Hindi heartland as a victory over the BJP’s ‘negative politics’.
It was a ‘Congress victory over the BJP’s negative politics,’ she said.
In a sign of burgeoning opposition unity, Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader Mayawati extended support to the Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, while the Samajawadi Party indicated that the party could join a grand alliance of Opposition parties to take on the BJP in the 2019 polls.
“The alarm bells have already rung for the BJP,” senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters.
“The results could have been better and the SP and Congress could have won more seats had the Congress leadership coordinated (with us) in a better manner,” Yadav said.
Asked if there was possibility of the SP joining a grand alliance against the BJP, he said, “I think so.”
In Chattisgarh, the contenders for the CM post are Lok Sabha member Tamradhwaj Sahu, who won the 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 Bharatiya Janata Party government. It won 68 seats in the 90-member Assembly, far more than the 46 required to form the government, while the BJP got only 15 seats. The Congress got 43 per cent of the total votes polled in the state, while the BJP got 33 per cent.
Three-time Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhhan tendered his resignation to Governor Anandiben Patel, who then met a Congress delegation at noon after party leaders staked claim on the government. After meeting Patel, senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia came out of the Raj Bhavan in Bhopal and flashed victory signs.
Audio message for feedback
New Delhi: Amid hectic lobbying for the post of chief minister in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has asked the party workers to tell their top choice for the CM post in each of the three states. Using an internal messaging platform for the party workers, Gandhi sent out to them a pre-recorded audio message seeking their feedback for selection of the chief minister in their respective states, the sources said. Despite repeated attempts, the party spokespersons did not comment on the message and its content. Sources, however, said it was sent to a large number of party workers in the states that went to polls. With more than one name doing the rounds for each of the three states where the Congress has secured numbers to form the government, Gandhi said in his message the party workers’ choice would reach him directly and would not be known to anyone else.
KCR to take oath
Hyderabad: K Chandrashekhar Rao, who led the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to a massive win in the Telangana Assembly elections, will take oath as the Chief Minister for a second consecutive term, Thursday. He will take oath at a ceremony to be held at 1.30 pm at Raj Bhavan. Governor ESL Narasimhan will administer him the oath of office and secrecy. The newly elected TRS legislators elected KCR their leader Wednesday at a meeting held at Telangana Bhavan, the TRS headquarters. The TRS chief told reporters after the meeting that the Election Commission has to issue a Gazette notification. He said he would take the oath along with a colleague Thursday. KCR sent his resignation to the Governor to facilitate formation of the government.