Himachal Congress MLAs authorise Kharge to name CM

After day-long deliberations and “infighting”, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Himachal Pradesh that met here on Friday adopted a single-line resolution authorising party President Mallikarjun Kharge to take a final call on the name of the Chief Minister.The resolution authorising the party chief was moved by present CLP Leader Mukesh Agnihotri and seconded by Sukhwinder Sukhu, both contenders for the Chief Minister’s post.The meeting was chaired by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Himachal Congress in-charge Rajeev Shukla.Of the 40 Congress MLAs, 39 were present in the meeting. Ghumarwin legislator Rajesh Dharmani was not there as he was on his way to Shimla.Shukla introduced all the MLAs and later the central leaders had one-to-one meetings with each of the MLAs to take their feedback on the CM candidate.Earlier, high drama continued ahead of the crucial meeting of newly-elected 40 Congress legislators to nominate the legislature party leader as it was delayed till Friday night, for the third time in a row.The party observers earlier in the day met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to hand over list of the MLAs showing the strength to form the government.