In new Delhi Cabinet, MLAs who’ve been in BJP since the start likely to be picked

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to fly back to the Capital, sources said a meeting of the BJP’s 11-member Parliamentary Board is likely to be convened on Saturday.

“The meeting will be followed by the appointment of observers — likely to include a mix of senior leaders such as the Chief Minister of a BJP-ruled state as well as an MP from the Union Cabinet — who will preside over a meeting of the legislature party comprising the 48 newly elected MLAs,” a source said.

“While the final decision will only be taken as per the PM’s approval, the criteria so far agreed upon by RSS and BJP top brass, in regard to choosing members of the Cabinet and the CM, includes youth, gender, caste, community as well as organisational experience,” the source added.

Party insiders said the BJP is likely to seek to balance youth with experience in the Cabinet, the Assembly and the party’s state organisation over the days to come. The stress, insiders added, was on ensuring “inclusiveness in diversity” while balancing the profile of the Cabinet with that of a “global city”.

“The only thing that can be said with certainty is that new MLAs, who have been with BJP’s organisation since they began their stint in public life, will get preference, to underline that hard work and loyalty of every average BJP karyakarta is rewarded,” a senior leader said.

“Organisational leaders, including those who currently occupy any office in Delhi BJP, will get preference. But this does not mean that leaders like Lovely, who brought four former Congress MLAs — of whom three, including himself, won the elections — to the party last year will go unnoticed,” the leader added.