After marathon meetings, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on late Thursday night announced senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Kamal Nath will take charge as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.The decision of chief ministerial candidates of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are expected to be announced on Friday.

Here are the updates:

Congress leader Kamal Nath in Raj Bhavan to meet Governor Anandiben Patel and stake claim to form government in Madhya Pradesh.

Rahul to hold fresh round of discussions with Gehlot, Pilot

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to hold a fresh round of discussions Friday with Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, the two chief ministerial aspirants in Rajasthan, before taking a final call for the top post.

The decision of Rajasthan s next chief minister is likely to be taken before noon and will be made public at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in state capital Jaipur, sources said.

Party s central observer for Rajasthan K C Venugopal told PTI, It is up to the Congress president to take a final call and the decision is being awaited.”

AICC general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Avinash Pande told PTI, Congress president heard everyone and after wide consultations he will take the final decision which will be acceptable to all.

Who will be the CM of Rajasthan?

The choice of chief minister in Rajasthan is proving to be tough for the Congress party as supporters of Rajasthan unit chief Sachin Pilot and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot were locked in an intense battle. As emotions spilled over into the streets, both leaders appealed for calm on social media on Thursday.

While Mr. Pilot is credited with reviving the party after its rout in 2013 Assembly polls and decimation in the Lok Sabha polls in 2014. The Hindu has learnt that senior Congress leaders leaned on former party chief Sonia Gandhi to back Mr. Gehlot as they considered him better placed to run a coalition government, given the party s wafer thin lead in the 200-member Assembly.

The Congress s decision on Chhattisgarh, where it has to choose between State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel, the former Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly T.S. Singh Deo, and the party s OBC wing chief Tamradhwaj Sahu is likely to be taken later in the day.

Amit Shah charts out punishing agenda for 2019 Lok Sabha polls

BJP president Amit Shah exhorted party office-bearers to have single-minded focus on the 2019 polls , terming the party s loss in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, as  not a defeat of the BJP despite the Congress having won.

Mr. Shah made these remarks at the conclusion of his marathon eight-hour review meet with central office-bearers and State organisational secretaries held in New Delhi.