Congress to hold meeting of newly-elected Himachal MLAs in Shimla Friday
Shimla (PTI): The Congress, which wrested power from the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, has convened a meeting of all its newly-elected MLAs here on Friday and the meet is likely to pass a resolution authorising the Congress president to pick the CLP leader.
The Congress on Thursday won 40 seats in the 68-member Assembly in the hill state which maintained its tradition of not voting any incumbent government to power since 1985.
Leader of the opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said that a meeting would be held in Shimla on Friday.
Deciding on the chief ministerial face who can bind the party going forward is the immediate challenge for the Congress.
State party president Pratibha Singh is considered a key frontrunner for the chief minister's post, closely followed by former party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and outgoing CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri.
AICC in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla had on Thursday said the Congress was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfil the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people.
"The newly-elected Congress MLAs would meet in Shimla on Friday post-election results and decide on electing the new legislature party leader," Shukla had told PTI on Thursday.
Sources said the MLAs are likely to pass a one-line resolution authorising Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the CLP leader. This has been the tradition in the Congress party, they said.
The party's two observers -- Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and senior leader from Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda-- along with Shukla are arriving in the state capital where all the party MLAs have been called.
While Shukla is AICC in charge of Himachal Pradesh, Baghel was appointed senior observer for the polls.
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Manipur: Mortal remains of children killed in bomb attack handed over to family
Imphal (PTI): The mortal remains of two children, who were killed in a bomb attack in Manipur's Bishnupur district in April, were handed over to family members on Saturday, officials said.
The bodies of the five-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister were kept in the morgue for 25 days, as the family members had refused to accept the mortal remains, demanding that the perpetrators be brought to book at the earliest.
On April 25, Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh had appealed to the family members of the children to accept the bodies. Singh had also said that all efforts were underway to find the culprits.
The two children were killed in a bomb attack at Tronglaobi in Bishnupur district on April 7. Their bodies were kept in the morgue at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal.
The incident had triggered widespread violent protests in the five valley districts of Manipur, and the case was subsequently handed over to the NIA.
Hundreds of people lined up along the way to Tronglaobi to offer floral tributes, as the mortal remains were taken for the last rites in an open vehicle earlier in the day.
