Decision on next Madhya Pradesh CM likely on Monday after BJP observers meet party MLAs

Bhopal, December 9

The suspense over who will become the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is likely to end on Monday when the BJP’s 163 newly elected legislators meet and select their leader in the presence of central observers, a party functionary said.

In the November 17 MP assembly elections, the results of which were declared last Sunday, the BJP won as many as 163 of the 230 seats, leaving the Congress a distant second at 66.

The party on Friday appointed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, its OBC ‘Morcha’ head K Laxman and its secretary Asha Lakra as central observers for electing the leader of its legislative party in Madhya Pradesh.

“The central observers will chair a meeting of party MLAs on Monday,” MP BJP media cell head Ashish Agrawal told PTI on Saturday.

The schedule of the meeting would be shared with the media once it is finalised, he added.

Party sources said the meeting is likely to begin any time between 5 pm and 7 pm on Monday.

The meeting was earlier scheduled to take place on Sunday, but it was put off till Monday due to the busy schedule of observers, they said.

The observers are likely to arrive in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday evening or Monday morning,  sources said.

This is for the third time in the last 19 years that the BJP is sending central observers to Madhya Pradesh.

This time, the saffron party contested the assembly election without projecting incumbent Chief Minister Chouhan as its CM face. It was after 20 years that the party did not name its chief ministerial candidate before the polls in MP.