Chhattisgarh: Congress names Charan Das Mahant as legislative party leader

RAIPUR: The Congress on Saturday named party veteran and former Chhattisgarh Assembly speaker, Charan Das Mahant, as the leader of its legislative party in the state, days after suffering a massive defeat in the Assembly elections at the hands of BJP.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal for the appointment of Mahant, a fifth-term MLA, as the CLP leader of Chhattisgarh, with immediate effect, as per a release shared by the state Congress unit.

The Congress president has also approved the proposal to continue Deepak Baij as the president of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, as per the release issued by AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.

The new CLP leader is the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.

Mahant had served as the Speaker in outgoing Chhattisgarh legislative Assembly.