The Congress has two prominent frontrunners for the leadership role, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, in Rajasthan, where it has returned to power after five years
RAJASTHAN ELECTIONS Updated: Dec 12, 2018 16:11 IST
Hindustan Times, Jaipur
Rajasthan’s newly-elected Congress legislators on Wednesday asked party president Rahul Gandhi to decide the state’s chief minister. The Congress has two prominent front-runners for the leadership role, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot.
“A resolution has been passed by the members in legislature party meeting. The final decision on the chief minister’s name will be taken by party president Rahul Gandhi,” a Congress leader said, reported PTI news agency.
Ex-chief minister Gehlot proposed the resolution, Pilot seconded it.
Watch: Rajasthan poll results: Ashok Gehlot or Sachin Pilot? Now race for CM’s post
AICC General Secretary Avinash Pande and party’s observer KC Venugopal also sought individual opinion of party MLAs in the meeting, the news agency said.
According to PTI, a Congress delegation will meet Governor Kalyan Singh at 7 pm to stake claim for forming the government in Rajasthan.
Read more| Mayawati, Akhilesh back Congress in MP and Rajasthan ‘to keep BJP out’
“The governor has given an appointment to a Congress delegation at 7 pm today,” Raj Bhawan sources said. The delegation will be led by the chief ministerial candidate to be decided by Gandhi on the basis of feedback from the MLAs.
The Congress won 99 seats out in the 200-member assembly where polling on one seat was deferred due to the death of a candidate, up from 21 in the 2013 elections. Ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) won one seat to take the total to 100 seats — the required number to form a government.
While the BJP declined drastically from 163 to 73, Mayawati’s BSP, which was contesting separately, won six seats and has offered support to the Congress. The remaining 20 seats were won by independents.
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