An assessment would be made and a final meeting to elect the chief minister could be held on October 30 or 31, they added. Singh has been engaged in consultations with senior party leaders Arjun Singh, Kamal Nath and several aspirants but has projected a neutral stand. There are at least six aspirants outside the legislature party and an equal number within it. The Shukla brothers - Shyama Charan and Vidya Charan - have held themselves out as candidates for quite a long time. Other aspirants outside the legislature party include Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi, former Uttar Pradesh governor Motilal Vora, former Union minister Arvind Netam and former state home minister Charandas Mahant.

Among the aspirants from the legislature party are Minister for Jails Mahendra Karma, Home Minister Nandkumar Patel, Commercial Taxes Minister Satyanarayan Sharma, Legislative Affairs Minister Rajendra Shukla and Public Relations Minister Ravindra Chaube. Even as these leaders are lobbying for the top job, the first steps towards the chief minister's election were taken last week at a meeting of legislators at Digvijay Singh's residence.

A first-term legislator Mohammad Akbar reportedly claimed that several of them were under tremendous pressure from these aspirants who "sought a commitment" from them on the leadership issue. "We are too junior to these leaders and we find ourselves in an embarrassing position, so we want that the matter should be left to the Congress president," he reportedly said at the meeting. The statement was greeted with a generous round of applause, sources said, adding that Akbar had voiced the majority's feelings and hence the rather quick endorsement.

(India Abroad News Service)