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Congress to announce Chhattisgarh CM today; Baghel, Deo are frontrunners

Congress state unit chief Bhupesh Baghel (left) and leader of opposition in the outgoing assembly T.S. Singh Deo (right) after the party's victory in Chhattisgarh | Sanjay Ahlawat

The Congress in Chhattisgarh will hold its legislature party meeting in Raipur on Saturday where the next chief minister of the state will be announced, a party leader said late on Friday.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday met four senior leaders of the party's Chhattisgarh unit—Bhupesh Baghel, T.S. Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charan Das Mahant—in Delhi and held discussions with them, a state Congress spokesperson told PTI.

Singh Deo and Baghel are being seen as leading contenders for the top post. All four leaders, along with party observer Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress state in-charge P.L. Punia, will arrive in Raipur on Saturday by a special plane, he said.

Subsequently, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting will be held at the party's state office Rajiv Bhawan, during which the name of the chief minister will be announced, the spokesperson added.

The Congress ended the BJP's 15-year rule in Chhattisgarh in the recently concluded assembly elections by winning 68 of the 90 seats.