NEW DELHI: Three days after winning the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan with a comfortable majority, the Bharatiya Janata Party is yet to take a call on who will be the chief ministers of these states.
On Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the names of chief ministers. Sources said the meeting went on for hours but no decision was taken. This was the second meeting between BJP’s central leadership and the Prime Minister in the past 24 hours. The first meeting, held on Tuesday, was inconclusive.
Sources said that discussions were also held on the appointment of observers for MP, Rajashthan and Chhattisgarh legislative party meetings, which are likely to be held soon for the selection of their respective CMs.
Wednesday’s meeting was held in the wake of resignation of 10 MPs, including two Union ministers, who had successfully contested the assembly elections. They submitted their resignations after meeting the PM in Parliament, triggering speculation that some of them were being considered for the CM’s post, as the BJP prefers new faces in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan to lead development ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
However, a senior BJP leader told this newspaper that the party may stick to old leaders if there is no consensus within the party on new faces. “It is anticipated the PM and other leaders may go with new faces in the three states. However, if there is no consensus, then the old faces may continue in each state till the 2024 general elections,” he said.
Among the new names doing the rounds are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vasundhara Raje, Mahant Balaknath, and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for Rajasthan. Narendra Singh Tomar, who resigned on Wednesday as Union agriculture minister, Prahlad Singh Patel, who resigned as MoS for food procession, and Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia are in the race for the CM’s post in MP.
As for Chhattisgarh, former chief minister Raman Singh and O P Chaudhary are being considered for the top post, according to BJP sources.
Meanwhile, sources said a decision on Rajasthan is likely on Thursday as former CM Vasundhara Raje has been called to Delhi to meet the party’s central leadership. The development came after around 60 of the newly elected BJP MLAs met her at her residence on Monday and Tuesday.