NEW DELHI: With BJP chief Amit Shah asserting that “most competent” leaders would be the chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Parliamentary Board of the party will meet on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the meeting of the party Parliamentary Board.
“The most competent leaders will be the chief ministers in the two states,” said Shah, adding that the board would discuss the issue. The BJP is likely to depute senior Central leaders as observers to Lucknow and Dehradun for 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 from 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 the next two years,” added the BJP functionary.
When the name of Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh was doing the rounds before the elections, he had ruled out such a possibility. Within the BJP, there are scores of chief ministerial hopefuls, including the likes of Union ministers Mahesh Sharma and Manoj Sinha, while Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath also fancies his chances after having emerged as the top campaigner in the State.
On the other hand, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Satpal Maharaj are seen as strong contenders for the post of CM in Uttarakhand after the State party chief Ajay Bhatt lost the elections from the Ranikhet constituency.