 |
|
Bhajan may be next CM Chandigarh, February 28 If developments ever since the declaration of results yesterday are any indication, the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief, Mr Bhajan Lal, looks certain to be the Chief Minister again. Reliable Congress sources reveal that holding of a meeting by three observers — Mr S.M. Sayeed, Mr Ashok Gehlot and Mr Janardhan Drivedi — with the newly elected Congress legislators of the state is to ensure unanimity on the election of the leader of the CLP. The observers will arrive here tomorrow and meet legislators in the afternoon to ascertain their views. While Mr Bhajan Lal camp is confident, maintaining that numbers, experience and high command support are on its side, others in the fray are still hopeful of a chance claiming that the High Command may try a new face so as to keep the entire CLP unified. Though the claims of Mr Bhajan Lal that he has more than 40 of the newly elected legislators supporting him may have been contested by others staking claim for the leadership of the CLP, yet no one has disputed that the HPCC chief enjoys a clear majority on his side. Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mr Birender Singh and Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala have not only the Jat card to play against Mr Bhajan Lal but also argue that a “change was needed as the party remained divided and dissension surfaced during Mr Bhajan Lal’s tenure as President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress. Mr Surjewala also represents the youth besides priding himself in defeating Mr Om Parkash Chautala in his den, Narwana.Sources reveal that some of the candidates for CM’s post were pulled up by the party high command for claiming proximity with the top leadership of the party. Since the party does not want any of its sitting MPs to be in the run for Chief Ministership, that narrows down the number of claimants to only those who have been successful in the Assembly elections. Mr Bhajan Lal being a Bishnoi himself, they maintain, represents a fairly large section of Haryanvis. The state had a Jat Chief Minister for nine years now and as a result, other communities felt discriminated against in the matter of recruitment and other areas. Reliable sources maintain that the endeavour of the High Command would be to keep all senior leaders together by giving them important portfolios in the new Council of Ministers besides grooming a few youngsters for responsible positions in coming years. They maintain that while Mr Bhajan Lal worked hard to get most of his men elected, other claimants were not that successful. As far as adjustment of Jat leader is concerned, the party high command may adjust one of them in the Union Council of Ministers as and when the next reshuffle takes place. They think that none of other claimants for the Chief Ministers’ position have either the number or experience of Mr Bhajan Lal to back up their claims. “It is not only election of the CLP leader but also the composition of the Council of Ministers on which the party high command has a difficult task on hand,” says another senior Congress leader of the state. The new CLP leader will be heading for Delhi to get the new Council of Ministers approved before assuming office later this week. “There are a number of legislators who have experience and good reputation. The ideal would be a blend of experience and youth so that all sections get representation in the new Council of Ministers where instead of centralisation, process of decentralisation has to be set in motion to make the new CLP work as a team,” he adds.  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
