End Of Suspense Over Chief Minister? BJP Observers Reach Chhattisgarh

New Delhi:

The BJP’s central observers have reached Chhattisgarh to finalise the appointment of a chief minister in the state where the party recently came to power after defeating the Congress in the assembly election.

The observers – Dushyant Gautam, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Arun Munda – are in state capital Raipur, accompanied by state BJP chief Arun Sao and state in-charge Om Mathur.

The BJP has been holding hectic meetings at the highest levels to pick three chief ministers for the three states where it won the recent elections – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Many leaders have been coming to meet with BJP chief JP Nadda at his Delhi home. A key meeting of the BJP’s newly-elected 54 MLAs is also likely to be held today, after which the suspense over the top post may finally end.

“Our party’s observers are coming, and we are waiting for the decision they take (at the meeting today),” Mr Mathur told news agency PTI, adding there is no “formula” to appoint a chief minister. There is a system set by the BJP’s parliamentary board which will be followed,” he said.

The BJP won 54 of the 90 seats and the Congress 35 in Chhattisgarh. The Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) managed to win a seat.

Speculation is high the BJP may select an Other Backward Classes (OBC) or a tribal chief minister if it doesn’t pick Raman Singh, who served as chief minister thrice from 2003 to 2018.

Vishnu Deo, Renuka Singh, Ramvichar Netam, Lata Usendi, and Gomti Sai are being seen as contenders from the tribal community.

Mr Sao, who too resigned as an MP after being elected MLA, and OP Choudhary, both from the OBC community, are among the potential candidates.

Whoever is selected chief minister in Chhattisgarh will have a big role to play in the BJP’s campaign for the national election next year. The BJP aims to wipe out the Congress from this state in the Lok Sabha election.

In the 2019 election, the BJP won nine out of the total 11 seats in the state, while the Congress won only two.