The Congress on Thursday announced that nine-term Member of Parliament from Chhindwara, 72-year-old Kamal Nath, will be the next Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. The announcement on who will lead the government in Rajasthan will be made in Jaipur on Friday.
Continuing a day of marathon meetings, party president Rahul Gandhi met former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot for the second time late on Thursday. The meeting went on almost until midnight.
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The Congress’s decision on Chhattisgarh, where it has to choose between State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel, the former Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly T.S. Singh Deo, and the party’s OBC wing chief Tamradhwaj Sahu is also likely to be taken on Friday.
CLP meeting
The formal announcement for Madhya Pradesh was made late in the evening in Bhopal at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party of newly elected MLAs, where Mr. Nath thanked Jyotiraditya Scindia for supporting him.
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Though there was no official word, Mr. Nath’s swearing-in could take place as early as Friday as he is scheduled to meet the Governor.
Earlier in the day, after two rounds of meetings with the two top contenders from the State — Mr. Nath and Mr. Scindia — Mr. Gandhi posted a smiling photo of himself with the two leaders on Twitter.
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. - Leo Tolstoy,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted with the picture.
His message was interpreted as one that sought to convey that younger leaders need to be patient and bide their time.
In all the three States, the leadership choices are being made with an eye on the 2019 poll as together they account for 65 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP won 62 of them in 2014.