Congress meet to elect CLP leader in January first week

Even as the new government is set to be sworn-in on Tuesday, the Congress meeting to elect the Leader of Opposition (LOP) in the state assembly is likely to take place in the first week of January.

Shailesh Parmar, MLA from Danilimda (SC) seat in Ahmedabad, and Congress's chief whip in the assembly said that the Congress MLAs are likely to meet in the first week of 2018 to elect their leader. "The date of the legislators' meeting to elect the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader is yet to be finalised, but it likely to take place in the first week of January," Parmar said.

While the loss of senior leaders such as Shaktisinh Gohil, Arjun Modhwadia and Siddharth Patel in the elections has thrown open the race for CLP leader, Paresh Dhanani, the Congress MLA from Amreli, is believed to be the front-runner for the post.

Dhanani, who was elected to the assembly for the third time in these elections, is a young and emerging face in the party. He is a Patidar, the community that threw its weight behind Congress in rural areas. Moreover, he is from Saurashtra, the region where the party improved its tally from 11 in 2012 to 27 in 2017. Incidentally, BJP was blanked in Amreli district, as Congress won all five seats.

Another claimant for the post of CLP leader is Mohansinh Rathwa, who was elected as MLA for a record tenth time, making him the senior-most legislator in the House. Rathwa has been a member of every Gujarat assembly since 1972, barring the 11th due to his loss in 2002. He was appointed Leader of Opposition in the assembly after Shankersinh Vaghela quit the party. However, Rathwa is 73, and this may go against him. He is also not very aggressive in the House. Shailesh Parmar, a four-term MLA, is another potential candidate as CLP leader. He is a prominent Dalit face and is well-versed with the functioning of the assembly. Moreover, Parmar is one of the handful of Congress MLAs from urban areas, and one of the even fewer ones who has been elected more than once.

WHAT MLA SAYS

The date of the legislators’ meeting to elect the Congress Legislature Party leader is yet to be finalised, but it is likely to take place in the first week of January, said Shailesh Parmar, MLA from Danilimda (SC) seat in Ahmedabad.