Rajasthan Congress Lawmakers Ask Rahul Gandhi To Decide On CM

The Congress legislature party (CLP) in Rajasthan on Wednesday passed a single-line resolution authorising party president Rahul Gandhi to decide the name of the chief minister.

Party's observer K C Venugopal is seeking individual's opinion of party legislators in the meeting, which is still underway at the state Congress office in Jaipur.

"We have passed a resolution authorising Rahul Gandhi to take a final decision on the name of chief minister. We raised our hands and passed the resolution. After that, individual opinion is being sought from the MLAs," Congress lawmaker Parasram Mordia told reporters.

Mordia said that when he was asked about his opinion, he said his choice was "high-command", meaning whatever the party president decides.

"The party has won because of Rahul Gandhi and he has to take a call on that," he said.

MLA Shanti Dhariwal, who was the home minister in the Ashok Gehlot government, also said that the legislators were giving their opinion about the chief minister candidate in the meeting.

Meanwhile, party legislator Vishvendra Singh expressed dissatisfaction over the resolution.

Singh, a Jat leader, attended the meeting in which the resolution was passed and later left after one-to-one meeting began. "What was the point to hold the meeting and sending the observer if the decision was to be taken by the party high-command only," he told reporters.

State Congress chief Sachin Pilot and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, both frontrunners for the post, are present in the meeting.

The name of the chief minister will be announced in the evening and a Congress delegation will meet Governor Kalyan Singh at 7 PM to stake claim on government.

(For latest news & live updates on Assembly election results in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, click here: https://www.outlookindia.com/assembly-elections-2018)

(With inputs from agencies)