Chavan, Hooda to return as CMs; Khandu sworn-in for AP

Going for status quo, Congress has named Ashok Chavan and Bhupinder Singh Hooda as leaders of its legislature parties in Maharashtra and Haryana, clearing the decks for their return as chief ministers even as Arunachal strongman Dorjee Khandu was today sworn in for a second consecutive term in the state's top post.

Chavan and Hooda were chosen to head the CLPs in their respective states well past midnight last night by Congress president Sonia Gandhi after she held several rounds of consultations with senior party leaders who as central observers had interacted with the newly-elected party MLAs in the last two days on the leadership issue.

After long-drawn meetings at 10 Janpath, the official residence of Gandhi, senior party leaders AK Antony and Prithviraj Chavan told reporters that 51-year-old Ashok Chavan will be the CLP leader in Maharashtra while Hooda, 62, will head the legislature party in Haryana.

Khandu, 54, who led Congress to a two-thirds majority in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly elections, was today sworn in as the fifth chief minister of the border state. Governor Gen (retd) JJ Singh administered the oath of office and secrecy to Khandu, a former army intelligence officer and social activist who returns as chief minister for a consecutive second term.

Hooda's nomination as CLP leader set at rest speculation about his continuance in the top post after Congress failed to secure majority on its own in the 90-member assembly, falling short by six seats. However, the party has managed to secure the support of seven independents and is trying to bring Haryana Janhit Congress led by Bhajan Lal on board.

 
The swearing-in of Ashok Chavan as Maharashtra chief minister is expected to take place only after Tuesday when Congress' alliance partner NCP elects its legislature party leader who will be the deputy chief minister.

Antony, who along with AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh and senior leader K Rehman met all the 82 party MLAs in Mumbai separately earlier yesterday to know their mind, said "a large majority" of the legislators had left a decision on the leadership issue to Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress President chose Chavan after meeting all the three leaders from Maharashtra -- Chavan, Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Narayan Rane, who were also considered strong contenders for the top post.

For Chavan too, this would be his second stint as chief minister after he had been in that post for the last nine months following the resignation of Deshmukh in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks in November last year.

Under Chavan's leadership, Congress in Maharashtra had fared better in this year's poll not only improving its performance from the previous elections in 2004 but also overtaking the tally of seats of ally NCP.

Reacting to his choice as the new CLP leader, Chavan said "I thank Congress President Soniaji for giving me the responsibility to handle an important state like Maharashtra". Efforts to find leaders in Maharashtra and Haryana shifted to Delhi after CLPs there leaving the leadership issue to Gandhi who then held several rounds of separate meetings with the party's observers for the two states at her residence here.