CLP meet to select new leader in Maharashtra

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting will be held here today to elect a new leader to set in motion the process to choose the next Maharashtra chief minister amid indications that incumbent Ashok Chavan is the frontrunner.

"The meeting will be held in the presence of AICC observers--Defence minister AK Antony, who is Congress general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha K Rehman Khan and senior leader Digvijay Singh," MPCC general secretary Sanjay Dutt said.

The three leaders are expected to arrive in the city by the afternoon after which the CLP meet will be held at the party office in Vidhan Bhavan, he said. The Congress, with 82 seats emerged as the single largest party and its ally NCP pocketed 62 seats in the 288-member House.

Chavan is the frontrunner for the top post.Industries minister Narayan Rane and Union Minister Gurudas Kamat are also hopefuls for the CM's post. Former CMs and union ministers--Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushil Kumar Shinde have ruled themselves out of the chief ministerial race.