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Sonia to select new PCC chief

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Congress Legislature Party on Tuesday authorised party president Sonia Gandhi to decide on the new CLP leader following the resignation of Ramnarain Chaudhary in the presence of the Central party observers at a meeting held on the Assembly premises here.

Mr. Chaudhary’s resignation from the post was accepted on Monday, shortly after the reshuffle in the Pradesh Congress Committee. C. P. Joshi was appointed PCC president, replacing B. D. Kalla recently in the poll-bound State.

AICC observers Motilal Vora and Ajay Makan and AICC general secretary in charge of Rajasthan, Mukul Vasnik, were present at the meeting.

The three leaders later met the individual Congress MLAs in a bid to gauge the opinion within the CLP on the choice of the new leader.

The resolution authorising Ms. Gandhi to nominate the new leader was moved by Mr. Chaudhary himself. Party insiders said the frontrunners included Gudhamalani MLA and former Minister Hemaram Chaudhary and Tijara MLA Aimaduddin Ahmed Khan, as all caste groups other than Jats and Muslims had been given important positions in the party during the reshuffle in the run-up to the Assembly elections.

Speculation is also rife that the party general secretary and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot could be brought back to the State ahead of the Assembly elections next year.

The three Central leaders later addressed a meeting of the party leaders who contested the previous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, at the PCC headquarters here.

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