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Chhattisgarh Congress Party chief Bhupesh Baghel has been appointed as the state’s third Chief Minister. The announcement came five days after the assembly election results for the state were declared. He will take oath at 5 pm on December 17.
Though the decision to appoint Baghel was taken on December 16, a tweet by Congress President Rahul Gandhi on December 15 hinted at his elevation.
In the tweet, Gandhi is flanked by four state leaders and is captioned with a quote from LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman that praised teamwork.
TS Singh Deo, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Baghel, MP Tamradhwaj Sahu and senior leader Charan Das Mahant, the four contenders for the CM’s post, had met Gandhi at his Tughlaq Lane residence in New Delhi on December 15.
All four separately met Gandhi, who also held talks with Congress' central observer Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress in-charge for party affairs in Chhattisgarh PL Punia. Several rounds of discussion were held, with a final decision being arrived at today.
On December 12, the Congress Legislature Party had met in the state capital Raipur in the presence of Kharge and Punia. It had passed a resolution authorising Gandhi to take a final call on the new chief minister.
The announcement was made by the Congress on its official Twitter handle even as the meeting of the Legislature Party was on in Raipur. The tweet on its official twitter handle read: “Celebrations are in order in Chhattisgarh as @Bhupesh_Baghel is appointed CM. We wish him the best as he forms a govt. of equality, transparency & integrity starting off with farm loan waiver for farmers as we promised.”
The OBC leader represented Patan assembly constituency in Durg district and has been President of Chhattisgarh Congress since October 2014.
He steered the party to two-thirds majority, winning 68 seats in the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly polls that took place on November 12 and November 20. The BJP, which was in power since 2003, was reduced to 15 seats.
(With PTI inputs)
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