After days of deliberations, the Congress leadership reached on a decision to appoint senior party legislator Satyadeo Katare as the leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly. A letter in this regard was handed over by State Congress chief Kantilal Bhuria to the Assembly secretariat.
The decision came a day after the two senior legislators of the party traded charges against each other in the media claiming majority support for the coveted post.
Party sources said the Congress high command has appointed Katare as Congress legislature Party (ClP) leader while legislator Bala Bachchan has named as the deputy leader of opposition in the state assembly. After handing over the letter, Bhuria told reporters here that he handed over the letter to the Principal Secretary (Vidhan Sabha) Rajkumar Pandey. Former minister Rajendra Singh has been nominated for the post of Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker. He said the party high command took the decision after taking into consideration overall circumstances.
Katare was elected to the House from Bhind district's Ater constituency. Bachchan represents Barwani's Rajpur assembly segment, while Singh was elected from Satna's Amarpatan constituency. Congress leaders had been competing for the post of the leader of the Opposition. Former leader of the opposition Ajay Singh and former minister Mahendra Singh Kalukheda had traded barbs publicly over the matter causing embarrassment to the party.
The party high command had taken serious note over the public spat. It is believed that both the leaders were thrown out of the race following the incident.