Ashok Gehlot Appointed Rajasthan Chief Minister; Suspense on Chhattisgarh CM to End Today

The top contenders who are in the fray for the post of Chhattisgarh chief minister are- TS Singh Deo, Bhupesh Baghel, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charan Das Mahant.

New Delhi: After the overnight drama on Thursday, Congress finally announced Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot as the Rajasthan Chief Minister and Deputy CM respectively. With CM’s decided for both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, all eyes are now on Chhattisgarh for which the candidate will be decided today, December 15.

The top contenders who are in the fray for the post of Chhattisgarh chief minister are- TS Singh Deo, Bhupesh Baghel, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charan Das Mahant. Before the candidate’s name, a meeting will be held along with the party’s central observer Mallikarjun Kharge who will arrive in Raipur with other MLAs. The four contenders had met Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi in the national capital on Friday morning.

One of the strongest and main candidates in the race of Chhattisgarh CM, TS Deo yesterday said, “We had a meeting with Gandhi over the issue and a decision on who will be the Chief Minister will be taken on Saturday.”

With multiple claimants to the Chief Minister’s post in all the three states, there have been tussles between the rival camps, with each of them strongly staking their claims for the post.

A Congress Legislature Party meeting was earlier held on December 12 where All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) observer Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC in-charge for the state PL Punia and other senior leaders were present.

The Congress registered a thumping victory in the Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018, thus bringing an end to the 15-year rule of the Raman Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. It won 68 seats in the 90-member Assembly, while the BJP got only 15 seats. On the other hand, former chief minister Ajit Jogi-led Janata Congress Chhattisgarh won five seats and his ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) bagged two seats.

In the recently concluded Assembly Elections 2018, Congress emerged victorious on 114 seats, two short of the magic figure but the party got the support by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) in Madhya Pradesh. While in Rajasthan, the party which won 99 seats has received the support of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) to reach the majority mark of 100.