“Congress Defers Decision on Legislative Party Leader in Madhya Pradesh to Central Leadership”
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], December 14: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Digvijaya Singh, announced on Thursday that the decision regarding the leader of the legislative party in the state will be made by the party’s central leaders. This statement came following a meeting at the party office in Bhopal, where Singh addressed reporters.
Singh explained, “All our MLAs have left it to our central leaders to decide the leader of the legislative party. Congress (central) leaders Randeep Surjewala and Jitendra Singh will sit down individually with all our MLAs (before deciding on the leader of the legislative party).”
The Congress legislature party meeting was conducted under the supervision of AICC (All India Congress Committee) special observers Jitendra Singh and Randeep Surjewala. Ahead of the meeting, Surjewala stated, “AICC special observer Jitendra Singh and I have come here for the legislature party meeting. We will hold discussions with all our colleagues (Congress MLAs).”
Notably, the state’s former Chief Minister and Congress’s state chief, Kamal Nath, was absent from the meeting. Senior Congress leader Ajay Singh mentioned that the unanimous decision to have the high command pick the leader of the legislative party in the state was reached at the meeting.
Regarding Nath’s absence, Congress MLA Omkar Singh Markam explained, “Nath had a pre-scheduled meeting because of which he couldn’t attend today’s meeting.” He further noted that the meeting primarily focused on discussions about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
On Wednesday, Mohan Yadav was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and he assumed charge later in the day. Governor Mangubhai C. Patel administered the oath of office, and BJP leaders Jagdish Devda and Rajendra Shukla also took oath as deputy chief ministers.
Madhya Pradesh underwent assembly elections on November 17, and the results were declared on December 3. Despite close to 18 years of incumbency, the BJP secured a resounding mandate by winning 163 seats, while the Congress finished as a distant second with 66 seats.
