From Rajnath to Fadnavis, Where are Top BJP Leaders as Race for CM Post Heats Up in U'khand & Goa

The suspense over the name of the next chief minister of Goa will end later in the day on Monday when BJP will hold the much-awaited legislature party meeting and call on the governor to stake a claim to form the government, eleven days after the saffron party won 20 seats in the 40-member House and secured the support of two MLAs of MGP and three Independents.

Central observes of BJP, union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and L Murugan,  will arrive in Panaji on Monday afternoon to participate in the crucial legislature party meeting scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at the party headquarters in the state capital. Devendra Fadnavis, election in-charge for Goa, will reach the state in afternoon ahead of the meet in which next chief minister name will be announced. State in charge C T Ravi is already in Goa.

BJP sources said the name of the next CM will be announced by 5 p.m. 11 ministers will be sworn in along the CM. The swearing-in ceremony of the new government in Goa will tentatively take place between March 23 and 25.

Meanwhile, Rajnath Singh, central observer for government formation in Uttarakhand, will reach the state this afternoon. He will be accompanied by Meenakshi Lekhi who is co-observer for the state. Both of them will be present in BJP’s legislative party meeting during which the chief minister’s name will be announced.

The newly elected BJP MLAs of Uttarakhand will meet in Dehradun on Monday to choose their leader who will be the next chief minister of the hill state where the party has stormed back to power for an unprecedented second successive term. The decision to convene a meeting of the MLAs on Monday was taken after Dhami, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Trivendra Singh Rawat (both former CMs), among others, met the party’s central leadership at Shah’s New Delhhi residence.

The BJP, despite its resounding win, has been in a bit of quandary over the new chief minister as Dhami, who spearheaded its successful campaign, lost his Khatami seat. Dhami continues to be the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post despite his defeat but other probable names for the top job doing the rounds include those of Chaubattakhal MLA Satpal Maharaj, Shrinagar MLA Dhan Singh Rawat and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni. Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt and former chief minister and union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank are also being talked about as probable candidates for the top job.

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