RAHUL TO MP MLAs: CHOOSE OWN LEADER

Bhopal: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has left it to the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit to choose their leader based on a “consensus”, a party leader said on Tuesday. The state Congress chief’s post has fallen vacant following the death of Satyadev Katare last week. Party sources said two senior leaders — state Congress in-charge Mohan Prakash and state Congress chief Arun Yadav — met Mr Gandhi in New Delhi recently to seek his stamp of approval on the new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader. “Mr Gandhi has left it to the CLP to find their leader on the basis of consensus and refused to interfere in the matter,” a senior party leader privy to the discussion told this newspaper. Following the development, the race for the coveted post has hotted up with deputy CLP leader Bala Bachchan, and senior Congress leaders Ajey Singh and Mahendra Singh Kulkhera throwing their hats into the ring. Mr Bachchan is said to belong to the Kamal Nath faction.