Jaipur, Dec 11 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been authorised by the newly elected Congress legislators to decide on the new chief minister of Rajasthan.
'The new legislators of the Congress unanimously passed a resolution Thursday, authorising party president Sonia Gandhi to decide on the chief minister,' a statement issued by the party here said.
The legislators left the decision to the party president largely because besides former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who is credited with carving the party victory, three other party stalwarts have emerged as contenders for the top post in the state.
Congress sources said the resolution was moved by Hemaram Chaudhary, who was Leader of Opposition in the 12th assembly and all newly elected party legislators supported it.
Sources said that the Congress observers Madhusudan Mistri, Mukul Wasnik, Digvijay Singh, Vivek Bansal and Virendra Singh also tried to know individual choice of legislators about their choice before and after the meeting.
The observers now would apprise Sonia Gandhi of the meeting and it is possible that the name of the chief minister would be announced by late night Thursday, the sources added.
Earlier in the day, the chief ministerial race turned ugly as supporters of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Union Minister Sisram Ola clashed.
The incident occurred when supporters of the two leaders, who had gathered outside the hotel where AICC observers were staying, came to blows before the police intervened and separated them.
Supporters of C.P. Joshi, the president of the Congress' state unit, and Girja Vyas, who is chairperson of National Commission for Women, also gathered at the spot and shouted slogans in support of their leaders.
The Congress has emerged the single largest party in the state assembly, winning 96 of the 200 seats in the legislature, just five short of the clear majority.
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