Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office, Prithviraj Chavan, considered close to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, was selected as the new Maharashtra chief minister on Wednesday morning.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday morning declared that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi decided on Prithviraj Chavan's name after the Congress Legislature Party unanimously asked her to choose the next CM.
On Tuesday, the Congress high command accepted the resignation of Ashokrao Chavan from the CM's post, after his name surfaced in the Adarsh Housing Scam.
Prithviraj Chavan met Congress chief on Wednesday morning at her 10, Janpath residence in New Delhi.
Prithviraj Chavan also met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday morning, and submitted his resignation from the post of minister of state in PMO.
PM Dr Singh has blessed me, Chavan later told mediapersons.
I am humbled by the Congress party's faith in me in such a crucial juncture. I will seek the cooperation of allies and all in the government to form the new government," Chavan said.
Raj Bhavan sources in Mumbai also indicated that Prithviraj Chavan's swearing in ceremony is likely to held on Thursday.
Chavan is slated to reach Mumbai later on Wednesday.
Chavan has his base at Karad in Western Maharashtra from where he represented as an MP from 1991 to 1999.
In 1999, former Congress leader Shrinavas Patil -- who had defected to the then newly formed Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar -- defeated Chavan. Since then Chavan has been elected to the Rajya Sabha.
However, the Maratha leader holds an unblemished political career, and is one of the longest serving ministers at the PMO.
Sixty four year old Chavan did his B.E.(Hons) from prestigious Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, Rajasthan, and his MS from University of California, Berkeley, (USA).
Image: Prithviraj Chavan, new Maharashtra CM
