TS Singh Deo and Bhupesh Baghel are being seen as leading contenders for the post of CM in Chhattisgarh.
The next chief minister in Chhattisgarh will be announced by the Congress party tomorrow. The Congress will hold its legislature party meeting in Raipur today. Congress Chhattisgarh chief Bhupesh Baghel and Ambikarpur MLA TS Singh Deo are being seen as leading contenders for the post of Chhattisgarh chief minister. Congress ended the BJP's 15-year rule in Chhattisgarh in the recently concluded Assembly elections by winning 68 of the 90 seats.
Yesterday, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi met Mr Baghel, Mr Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charan Das Mahant in Delhi and held discussions with them. The meeting of the Chhattisgarh leaders with Mr Gandhi at his residence followed that of Ashok Gehlot who has been named as the new Rajasthan Chief Minister and Sachin Pilot who has been named his deputy.
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. There was high drama both in case of selecting Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh and Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan as the respective Chief Ministers. It took several rounds of meetings over 36 hours to bring Sachin Pilot, the Rajasthan Congress president since 2013, on board.
The announcement had come shortly after Rahul Gandhi tweeted a photo with Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, all three grinning, with the caption: "The United Colours of Rajasthan". In a similar teaser tweeted by Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia flanked the Congress president, the caption quoting Leo Tolstoy: "The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." Hours later, Kamal Nath was named Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.
In Mizoram, Zoramthanga was sworn in as the Chief Minister earlier today.
Here are the Highlights of the announcement of the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh
BREAKING: Chhattisgarh chief minister to be announced tomorrow. CLP meeting to held tomorrow at 12pm.
After selecting chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi held hectic meetings with top party leaders today to decide on the top post for Chhattisgarh. Sources said Mr Gandhi met Chhattisgarh's four potential chief minister candidates -- TS Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Bhupesh Baghel and Charan Das Mahant -- at his home in New Delhi and held discussions with them. This is the third round of discussion that Mr Gandhi is holding before selecting the chief minister for Chhattisgarh, where the party has come to power after 15 years with a two-third majority.
Visuals of Zoramthanga being sworn in as the chief minister of Mizoram at the Raj Bhavan in Aizawl.
Frontrunner for the post of chief minister in Chhattisgarh TN Singh Deo reiterated that the top-most priority of the new Congress government in the state is to waive off farmer loans and increase the compensation of farm produce to Rs 2,500, news agency ANI said. During the run-up to the Chhattisgarh polls, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised farm loan waiver in the state if the party forms the government.
TS Singh Deo today said that the Congress party had more than one eligible name for the post of the chief minister which is why the process of announcing the name for the top post was taking time. "In any case, the final result came late on December 11. So it has been just four days today. BJP took more than seven or eight days to appoint its recent chief ministers," news agency ANI quoted Mr Deo.
Mizo National Front president Zoramthanga will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Mizoram today. Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan on Wednesday had formally invited Zoramthanga to form the government in the state. He will be sworn-in as the chief minister at the governor house at 12 noon today.
Frontrunner for the post of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister: TS Singh Deo was the leader of the opposition in the previous assembly in Chhattisgarh. When Mr Deo on the Ambikapur assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh, he broke the jinx that the sitting Leader of Opposition does not get re-elected to the Chhattisgarh assembly.
Frontrunner for the post of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister: Bhupesh Baghel is a seasoned legislator who had served in the Digvijaya Singh cabinet when Chhattisgarh was still a part of Madhya Pradesh and later in the Ajit Jogi government. He was appointed as the Congress's state unit chief in 2014.