NEW DELHI: With the BJP chief Amit Shah asserting that the “most competent” leaders would be the chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Parliamentary Board meeting of the saffron outfit is set to take place on Sunday which will also have the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The most competent leaders will be the chief ministers in the two states,” said Shah, while adding that the Parliamentary Board would discuss the issue. The BJP is likely to depute senior Central leaders to go as observers to Lucknow and Dehradun in the meetings of the legislature party in the two states. “The names of the chief ministers will be known after Holi,” said a senior BJP functionary.
While all eyes are on the next UP chief minister, there is no clear word within the party, with the choice likely to be made by the Prime Minister.
“Since UP is a large state and key to the BJP’s plans for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The next chief minister will need to be a strong administrator who could implement the poll promises within next two years. The Prime Minister will make the choice with such concerns,” added the BJP functionary.
Even while the name of the Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh had been doing the rounds before the elections, he had ruled out such a possibility. Within the BJP there are scores of chief ministerial hopefuls, which include the likes of Union Ministers Mahesh Sharma and Manoj Sinha, while the Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath also fancies his chances after having emerged the top campaigner in the state for electioneering.
On the other hand Trivendra Singh Rawat and Satpal Maharaj are seen strong contenders for the post of chief minister in Uttarakhand after the state unit party chief Ajay Bhatt lost the elections from the Ranikhet constituency.