A former chief minister of India's richest state Maharashtra was returned to the post on Friday, officials here said.
Vilasrao Deshmukh, who stepped down in 2003, was given back his post following the Congress-NCP alliance victory in state elections this month.
"The meeting of the Congress party today elected Vilasrao Deshmukh as its leader in the state legislative assembly," Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad said in the provincial capital of Bombay.
India's ruling Congress party and its ally the NCP won provincial polls held on October 13.
However a dispute between the two electoral partners erupted after the victory, with both staking claims to the chief ministerial post.
The deadlock was broken after the NCP agreed to accept the post of the deputy chief minister, surrendering the top office to the Congress.
Deshmukh was chief minister for three years before making way for Sushil Kumar Shinde, a leader of the NCP party, last year.