New Delhi: Putting an end to all the speculations, Uttarakhand general secretary in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that Vijay Bahuguna will be the new Chief Minister of the state. Bahuguna, son of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister HN Bahuguna and brother of UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, is an MP from Tehri Garhwal.
The decision has come after a meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi and key party leaders.
Expressing happiness over the decision, Bahuguna said, "I will take all sections of the party along and there will be no breakup."
Earlier, there were reports of Union Minister Harish Rawat and senior leader Indira Hridesh being the frontrunners for the post of the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, with the former having a slight edge.
Though the Congress had staked the claim to form the government in Uttarakhand, infighting had delayed the decision of who would be the Chief Minister.
The announcement of the choice of 65-year Bahuguna name as the new Congress Legislature Party leader was made by AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was authorised by party MLAs to take a decision in the matter, chose Bahuguna after taking the views of party MPs and MLAs, Azad told reporters outside 10 Janpath, the residence of Gandhi.
"The decision has been taken that Vijay Bahuguna will be the Leader of the Legislature Party in Uttarkhand and the new Chief Minister", he said in the presence of Bahuguna as well as AICC General Secretary Birender Singh, in charge of party affairs in the state.
The choice of Bahuguna, a cousin of outgoing BJP chief minister BC Khanduri, was made by Gandhi after the party high command had grappled with the issue for days amid diverse pulls and pressures created by several claimants to the top post and demand by independent MLAs whose support is crucial to Congress' securing majority and formation of government.
A former Judge of the Allahabad and Bombay High Courts, Bahuguna is Vice-President of Uttarakhand unit of Congress and is a second-term MP representing Tehri Garhwal.
Hailing from a political family, Vijay's father was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh long time back and his sister Rita Bahuguna Joshi is currently the President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee.
A beaming Bahuguna said he would take all sections of the party along with him and that "there will be no split".
The party high command selected Bahuguna after indicating earlier in the day that the AICC had has not closed any option and even an MP can be considered for the top job in the state.
Along with Bahuguna, Union Minister Harish Rawat, PCC chief Yashpal Arya, former state Congress Harak Singh Rawat, party MP Satpal Maharaj, MLA Indira Hridesh were also among the prominent contenders for the CM's post.
After the announcement, Congress general secretary in charge of party affairs in the state Chaudhary Birender Singh said the party will give a letter to the Governor on Tuesday informing him that Vijay Bahuguna has been elected the CLP
leader and then a date for the swearing in ceremony will be finalilzed.
After his selection, Bahuguna thanked Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for reposing their trust in him and assured all "friends in Congress" and the people that he will run the government with transparency and work towards making
Uttarakhand an "ideal" state.
Vijay Bahuguna will be the sixth Chief Minister of the hill state which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh 12 years ago.
In the run up to choosing Bahuguna, there was a series of meetings in the last two days in which the senior leaders were engaged in brain storming to decide the next Uttarakhand Chief Minister as different factions had insisted on the
candidature of their respective candidates.
Rawat's supporters were in fact camping in the national capital for last few days and had also met Gandhi making it clear that they stand for the Union Minister's candidature.
Gandhi had meetings with all the contenders at 10 Janpath throuhout the day on Monday.
In the 70-member House, Congress emerged as the single largest party with 32 MLAs - four short of majority--but managed to get the support of three MLAs of BSP, three Independents and one MLA from Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (P).
With Additional Inputs from PTI
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