After Sonia's nod, Harish Rawat chosen CLP leader in Uttarakhand

With Sonia Gandhi putting her seal of approval on his name, Harish Rawat was elected on Saturday the Congress Legislature Party leader in Uttarakhand, paving the way for Haridwar MP's swearing in as new chief minister of the hill state.

After a marathon meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, senior party leader Janardhan Dwivedi said Rawat's name had been approved by Gandhi who had been authorised to name the CLP leader by the legislators through a one-line resolution passed at the meeting.

It took some time to get the AICC chief's approval as she was on a tour to Karnataka, he told reporters.

"Soniaji gave her approval for Rawat's name. He has been elected CLP leader and will be sworn in chief minister along with some Cabinet ministers later today," Dwivedi said to loud cheers from supporters of Rawat.