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As initial trends indicated a Congress victory in Himachal Pradesh, party veteran Virbhadra Singh said on Thursday that he had put in his "best efforts" in the polls and it was for Sonia Gandhi to decide the party's chief minister.
"I had been given the brief to bring the party back to power and for that I had put in my best efforts. It is for our national leader Sonia Gandhi to decide who will become the chief minister," Singh said while speaking to reporters in Shimla.
A five-time chief minister, Singh said the initial trends indicate that the Congress would form its government in the hill state.
Singh said there was no possibility of the Congress high command nominating an outsider for the chief minister's post.
"I can only say I don't expect this will happen," he had said on Wednesday when asked if a person from outside could lead the Congress government if the party comes to power.
Singh had also dismissed suggestions that Union minister Anand Sharma, his known detractor in state politics, stands a chance to become the chief minister. "Whether he (Sharma) is a contender or not, I don't know, but he will not be there," he had said.