Senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel has been named the new chief minister of Chhattisgarh, ending the suspense after days of intense deliberations with top party leadership headed by president Rahul Gandhi.
Congress central observer Mallikarjun Kharge made the announcement after the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Raipur, reported PTI.
Baghel will take oath as the the chief minister at 5 pm today (on Monday), Kharge said. No other minister will be taking oath on that day, he added.
The 57-year-old OBC leader, who steered the party to a stupendous victory with a two-thirds majority in Chhattisgarh pipped party colleagues T S Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charan Das Mahant to the top post, as Congress chief Gandhi decided on his candidature to lead the state government, the report said.
“It was a tough decision because all the four leaders worked equally for the party and they all are equal,” Kharge was quoted as saying.
After having discussions with the four aspirants, Gandhi decided to chose Baghel as the chief minister and “we conveyed the message to all the legislators today in the CLP meeting during which they all accepted it and unanimously elected Baghel as the CLP leader,” Kharge said.
“There are several challenges before us as we have come to power after 15 years in the state. We will fulfil our poll promises and we are confident that Baghel will discharge his responsibilities well,” he reportedly said.
Meanwhile, the party, in its twitter handle, said the new Congress government in the state would work on equality, transparency and integrity and its first task would be to declare a loan waiver for farmers of the state.
“Celebrations are in order in Chhattisgarh as Bhupesh Baghel is appointed CM. We wish him the best as he forms a government of equality, transparency and integrity starting off with loan waiver for farmers as we promised,” the party tweeted, along with a picture of Baghel.
Top party leadership have had intense discussions over the past three days before deciding on Baghel, the MLA from Patan constituency in Durg district, as the chief minister, the PTI report said.
Rahul Gandhi had held several rounds of discussion with the four aspirants at his Tughlaq Lane residence in New Delhi on Saturday, it added.