The Congress appointed three central observers, including senior leader Sushil Kumar Shinde on Sunday, ahead of its crucial legislature party meeting in Karnataka to elect the new chief minister, amid intense lobbying for the position.

Other observers include party general secretary Jitendra Singh and former AICC general secretary Deepak Babaria, in addition to Shinde, a former Maharashtra chief minister.

K C Venugopal, AICC general secretary (Organisation) stated that the central observers would oversee the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting.

K C Venugopal tweeted, “Hon’ble Congress President has deputed Shri.Sushilkumar Shinde (Former Chief Minister, Maharashtra), Shri.Jitendra Singh (AICC GS) and Shri.Deepak Babaria (former AICC GS) as observers for the election of the CLP Leader of Karnataka”, through his official Twitter handle.

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The Congress made a surprising comeback in Karnataka on Saturday unseating the BJP with a large majority from its lone southern citadel.

The key CLP meeting will take place later this evening where the decision to elect the leader will be made.

Former chief minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D K Shivakumar are both considered front runners for the position of chief minister.

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