"Kamal Nath Chief Ministerial Face In Madhya Pradesh": Congress's Randeep Surjewala

Kamal Nath is the Congress' chief ministerial face in Madhya Pradesh as he is the president of state congress committee, party leader Randeep Surjewala said Saturday. Mr Nath has earlier held the top post.

On being asked about the party's face for the Chief Minister's post in Madhya Pradesh, Mr Surjewala told the reporters that whoever is the president of Pradesh Congress naturally becomes the face of the party.

"Kamal Nath is the president of Madhya Pradesh Congress and whoever is the president of Pradesh Congress, that person is naturally the face of Congress," Mr Surjewala said.

Talking about the Central Election Committee meeting of Congress, which was held to finalise candidates for the upcoming assembly elections, Mr Surjewala said a decision regarding the seats will be made in the next meeting.

He further said that the people of the state want a "change".

"Discussion was held on the political situation of Madhya Pradesh, the way Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken the state on the path of destruction. There has been crime against women in the state and corruption is on the rise. Madhya Pradesh wants change. Another meeting will be called and a decision will be made over the seats," the Congress leader said.

After the meeting, Kamal Nath, while speaking to the reporters said that no decision has been taken at present regarding the name of the candidates.

"We have held discussions on several names. At present, no decision has been taken. The decision will be taken in the next 6-7 days. We have held a discussion on 130-140 seats," Mr Nath said.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who also attended the meeting, said that the "list will be released soon".

"A lot of discussion happened but everything will not be revealed. The list will be released soon," he said.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and party MPs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also attended the meeting. Party leader KC Venugopal too was present.

On October 3, the Congress screening committee held a meeting to decide on the candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls.

Madhya Pradesh is one of the five states going to polls at the end of this year.

The terms of the legislative assemblies in Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh are set to conclude on various dates in January of the coming year, while the term of the Mizoram Legislative Assembly will end on December 17 this year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)