NEW DELHI/PANAJI, Mar 14: Four Union ministers, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will go into a huddle with the newly elected MLAs over Government formation in Uttar Pradesh, and to pick the new chief ministers in Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, party sources said on Monday.
The BJP deputed Shah as observer to Uttar Pradesh, where Yogi Adityanath powered the party to an impressive victory and where there are no hurdles in the way of the priest-politician’s second stint in power.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has been appointed the observer for Uttarkhand, while Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar will supervise the selection of the leader of the BJP legislature parties in Manipur and Goa.
The leaders are expected to visit the states assigned to them in the next few days.
Despite the BJP emerging as the single largest party in Goa with 20 MLAs in the 40-member assembly, and the assured support of two legislators of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three Independents, its legislators have not formally met so far to elect their leader.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who steered the campaign and brought the BJP tantalisingly close to a majority, is a clear favourite, but is facing some challenge from Vishwajit Rane, a member in the outgoing Cabinet. It’s only after the BJP legislature party leader has been elected that the party can stake claim to form the Government.
The new government in Goa will be sworn in after Holi, which falls on March 18, state BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade said in Panaji on Monday.
He, however, didn’t specify the date of the swearing-in ceremony.
Ganesh Gaonkar, who has been appointed the pro-tem Speaker, will administer the oath to the newly elected members of the Goa assembly on March 15, the day the state governor has convened the new House.
Tanavade rejected suggestions of differences within the state party over the leadership issue.
“There are no differences. The central leadership will decide on the leadership,” he said when asked who will become the next chief minister of the coastal state.
He said the BJP’s central leadership will take an appropriate decision on whether the MGP will be part of the Government.
He, however, acknowledged most of the new BJP MLAs and party workers were against including the MGP in the Government.
The MGP had contested the recent polls in alliance with the TMC, which drew a blank in its maiden election outing.
The BJP is in a quandary over who should be the next chief minister in Uttarakhand, after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami led the party to an emphatic win but lost his Khatima seat.
The names of Dhan Singh Rawat, former Union minister Satpal Maharaj and ex-chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat are doing the rounds, besides some others.
The BJP has won 47 of Uttarakhand’s 70 assembly seats.
In Manipur, where the party secured a simple majority, winning 32 seats in the 60-member assembly, and has the assured support of Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) (6) and the Naga People’s Front (5), incumbent chief minister N Biren Singh is most likely to helm the Government.
However, the newly elected MLAs are yet to meet and formally elect him as the chief minister. Though Biren Singh looks set for a second straight term in office, Thongju MLA Thongam Bishwajit could also be a possible contender for the top post.
The four Union ministers, party sources said, will smooth whatever rough edges there are and facilitate government formation in the four states. The new governments are likely to be sworn-in after Holi on March 18. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel