BJP likely to name observers to select CMs today; Raje in Delhi

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, December 7

The suspense over the new chief ministers of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh continued on Thursday with the BJP likely to appoint central observers on Friday to oversee the process of selection of CMs by MLAs in the three states.

In an important development today, former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje arrived in New Delhi and met BJP president JP Nadda, raising speculation on whether she was the frontrunner for the post. Mahant Balak Nath, Alwar MP who has been elected MLA from Tijara seat in Rajasthan, also gave up his Lok Sabha membership, a day after 10 BJP leaders elected to state Assemblies had quit Parliament to join state governments.

Narendra Tomar, elected from MP’s Dimani, and Balak Nath met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament today. There is, however, no final decision on the names of the CMs yet.

May bank on Two formulations

1 BJP might not upset veterans Shivraj Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on the eve of Lok Sabha poll and repeat them as CMs

2 Another view is that the party might install a new generation of leaders as Chief Ministers in all the three states

There are two formulations — the dominant view being the party might not want to upset veterans Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections and might repeat them in CM posts along with one or two Deputy CMs to accommodate varied communities.

Another view is the party might install a new generation of leaders as CMs in all the states. In MP, Chouhan, who launched the Lok Sabha campaign from Chhindwara yesterday and was in Sihor today, remains the frontrunner, with Tomar and Prahlad Patel in contention too.

In Rajasthan, there are several contenders apart from Raje. They include Balak Nath and Diya Kumari. In Chhattisgarh, the party could bank on BJP vice-president Lata Usendi, a senior tribal leader who defeated former Chhattisgarh Congress chief Mohan Markam in Bastar’s Kondagaon seat, or Gomti Sai, another tribal MLA, should it opt for a woman leader. The names of BJP state chief Arun Sao, former state unit chief Vishnudev Sai and Ram Vichar Netam are also doing the rounds for key roles.