Ashok Chavan becomes Maharashtra's new Chief Minister

[Santi]

I got news from source that Ashok Chavan will be Maharashtra Chief Minister. Maharashtra Industries Minister Ashok Chavan has emerged as the frontrunner for Chief Minister. NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal was on Friday named as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra by his party but the Congress still hasn’t decided who would be the Chief Minister in the coalition government.

Ashok Chavan, an MLA from Nanded and son of the late S B Chavan, was finalised at a meeting of senior Congress and NCP leaders on Wednesday.

There were indications that NCP chief and union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has problems with Ashok Chavan, but the Congress was bent on getting a Maratha for the CM's post.

[Dummy]

"Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) has communicated that Ashok Chavan will be the leader of the legislature party," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced in Mumbai.

Chavan, 50, represents Mudkhed constituency in the Assembly. He was a Member of Parliament for two years from 1987-89 and was elected to the Assembly from 1999.

"The aam aadmi (common man) is not concerned with who is Chief Minister or the Deputy Chief Minister. They just want the administration to be strong," said Chavan after being selected for the post.

[Saku]

The nomination of 50-year-old Chavan, the son of late S B Chavan, as leader of the Congress Legislature Party by Congress President Sonia Gandhi was announced by senior leader Pranab Mukherjee this evening, shortly after another contender Narayan Rane hit out at Gandhi, Deshmukh and Chavan and questioned the process of election of the new leader.