Senior Congress leader and state party chief Bhupesh Baghel will be the new chief minister of Chhattisgarh.

The decision was taken at the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting held here on Sunday.

He will take oath at 5 PM today, AICC observer Mallikarjun Kharge said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had held several rounds of discussion with the four aspirants for the post -- T S Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Bhupesh Baghel and Charan Das Mahant -- at his Tughlaq Lane residence in New Delhi on Saturday.

On December 12, the CLP had met in the state capital Raipur in the presence of AICC observer Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC-in-charge for Chhattisgarh, P L Punia.

It had passed a resolution authorising Gandhi to take a final call on the new chief minister.

In the two-phase polls that took place on November 12 and November 20, the Congress had romped home to power in the state after 15 years with a two-third majority, winning 68 seats in the 90-member House.

The BJP, which was in power since 2003, was reduced to 15 seats.

Meanwhile, the party in its twitter handle, said the new Congress government in the state would work on equality, transparency and integrity and its first task would be to declare a loan waiver for farmers of the state.

"Celebrations are in order in Chhattisgarh as Bhupesh Baghel is appointed CM. We wish him the best as he forms a government of equality, transparency and integrity starting off with loan waiver for farmers as we promised," the party tweeted, along with a picture of Baghel.

Top party leadership have held intense discussions over the past three days before deciding on Baghel as the chief minister.

First Published:Dec 16, 2018 2:50 PM IST