Haroon Yusuf to lead Congress in Delhi assembly

Former minister Haroon Yusuf was on Friday appointed as the new Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the Delhi assembly.

"The party high command has decided Yusufji will be our new CLP leader. We hope that he will guide us for good," a Congress legislator said.

Yusuf, a five-time legislator from Ballimaran, was the strongest contender for the post. Mateen Ahmed was also in the fray.

After former minister Arvinder Singh Lovely being named the state chief, this is the second major appointment in the Congress's Delhi unit which was reduced to eight members in the assembly, from 43, after the December assembly elections.

Lovely and Yusuf were the only two ministers of the Sheila Dikshit government to win.

Yusuf, the former power minister, is said to be close to Dikshit.