CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Congress Legislature Party (CLP), which held its first meeting here Friday after the Assembly poll results announced on October 8, passed a resolution authorising the party high command to appoint its next leader in the house.
Top Congress leaders -- former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, AICC treasurer Ajay Maken, Punjab CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa, and T S Singh Deo -- were present in the meeting as central observers.
They also spoke with all party MLAs and sought their opinion on who should be their new leader.
Outgoing CLP leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress chief Udai Bhan were also present at the meeting along with other Haryana Congress MLAs.
The meeting lasted nearly 90 minutes.
"A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party was held here. At the beginning of the meeting, Bhupinder Singh Hooda read out a resolution that CLP unanimously decides that the right to choose its leader is of the AICC president. Hooda's resolution was seconded by Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan. All the MLAs present unanimously backed the resolution," Ajay Maken told reporters.
After the resolution was passed, the observers met with the MLAs separately and sought their opinions, he said, adding "we will give the feedback to the high command" today itself.
In a show of strength on Wednesday, 31 party MLAs met Hooda earlier this week and extended their support to him.
However, a section of leaders is seeking to oust him as the leader of the party in the assembly and wants the younger generation to take over as the Congress failed to come back to power in the state.
But, Hooda did not seem to be in a mood to give up.
The Congress MLAs from Haryana had recently felicitated Hooda at his Delhi residence and expressed their desire that he be their leader in the state assembly.
It was the first time the Congress MLAs had met after the Haryana assembly poll results were announced even though the meeting was informal.
In polls conducted on October 5, the BJP secured an unprecedented third term in the state, winning 48 seats in the 90-member assembly.
The Congress won 37 seats.
Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge set up a fact-finding committee -- which includes former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, former Rajasthan minister Harish Chaudhary and party leader S Senthil -- to ascertain the reasons for the party's defeat in Haryana.