Chhattisgarh: Congress to hold legislative party meet on Wednesday

Raipur: The Congress, which was ousted from power in Chhattisgarh in the just-concluded assembly polls, will hold a meeting of its legislative wing on Wednesday, its functionary said.

The grand old party suffered a shock defeat in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, which saw the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making a stunning comeback to power by bagging 54 of the 90 seats.

The Congress, which had won 68 seats in 2018 in the state, was reduced to 35 seats, while the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) managed to win one seat.

Nine ministers of the previous Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government and its state unit chief suffered defeat in the polls.

The meeting of newly-elected 35 Congress MLAs will be held at 2 pm on Wednesday at Rajiv Bhavan, the party's state office in Raipur, said Sushil Anand Shukla, head of the state Congress communication wing, on Tuesday.

The party's in-charge for state Kumari Selja and national treasurer Ajay Maken will also be present in the meeting, he said.

According to the party sources, the leader of the Congress legislative party may also be elected during the meeting.

Among the senior Congress leaders who won the last month's assembly elections are former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, former ministers Kawasi Lakhma, Umesh Patel and Anila Bhendia, former assembly speaker Charan Das Mahant.