Congress high command to decide on legislature party leader in J’khand assembly: Mir

Ranchi, Nov 24 (PTI) The Jharkhand Congress on Sunday said it has left the decision of nominating the leader of legislature party in the Jharkhand assembly to its central leadership in New Delhi.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) held its meeting here after a stunning comeback of Hemant Soren’s JMM-led alliance in Jharkhand for a second consecutive term. The coalition won 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, including 16 by the Congress, while the BJP-led NDA managed 24 seats.

“Today, a meeting of the CLP was convened. The party unanimously passed a resolution to authorise the high command to nominate the legislature party leader.

The resolution will be sent to the party leadership,” Congress general secretary and Jharkhand in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir told reporters.

He said a detailed discussion was held by Congress legislators, and 14 out of the 16 MLAs were present in the meeting.

Mir said the Congress leadership will take a decision on the CLP as per the usual practice based on seniority, House experience and other parametres.

He, however, parried queries on whether the party has demanded the deputy CM’s post.

On how many ministerial berths the Congress would seek, he said the first priority was to elect the leader of the alliance, following which an authorised delegation of the party would talk to the coalition leaders over the matter.

Once the Leader of the House is elected, “we will have a detailed discussion”, added Mir.