New Delhi:
Congress
president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday appointed former Haryana chief minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the
state.
By virtue of being appointed the CLP leader, Hooda will be
the Leader of Opposition in the newly-constituted Haryana assembly, AICC
Haryana in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad said at a press conference here.
A resolution was passed by the MLAs unanimously authorising
Gandhi to elect the CLP leader and after being briefed by observer Madhusudan
Mistri about the wishes of the MLAs, she has appointed Hooda as the CLP leader,
he said.
Azad also hailed Hooda and Haryana Congress chief Kumari
Selja for their efforts in the assembly polls, saying their combination had
worked well for the party and despite the short time they got, they ensured a
good performance by the Congress.
Ahead of the assembly election in Haryana, the Congress high
command had replaced Ashok Tanwar with Selja as the state party chief and Kiran
Choudhary as CLP leader with Hooda. Tanwar had later quit the party.
In the 90-member assembly, the strength of BJP is 40, its
ally Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) 10, Congress 31, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)
one, Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) one and seven independents. The seven
independents too had extended support to the BJP. (PTI)
