BJP central observers set to reach Raipur today, no clarity yet on Rajasthan and MP

Team led by Union Minister Munda to meet Chhattisgarh MLAs

Sarbananda Sonowal

Union Ministers Arjun Munda and Sarbananda Sonowal, and BJP general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam, the party’s central observers for Chhattisgarh to finalise selection of the state’s next Chief Minister, will meet newly elected MLAs after reaching Raipur on Sunday, it is learnt.

However, uncertainty prevailed over the schedule of the central observers for Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, with speculation growing over who will lead the governments in the three states where the BJP won resounding victories.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who leads a three-member team of central observers for Rajasthan, also comprising Rajya Sabha MP Saroj Pandey and party general secretary Vinod Tawde, is unlikely to go to Jaipur even on Sunday, sources said.

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The schedule of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who leads the team of central observers for MP, also comprising BJP OBC Morcha president K Laxman and party national secretary Asha Lakda, is not clear either. While one source close to Khattar said he will be travelling to Bhopal on Monday, another said nothing will be clear until the Haryana CM’s schedule comes out.

The delay in the announcement of the new CMs, a week after the results were declared, has set off speculation that the BJP’s national leadership could be looking for major changes factoring in the imperative to maintain the clean sweep in the Lok Sabha elections barely five months away.

The party went into the elections without announcing a CM candidate and fought the electoral battle citing Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. Among the three states, the BJP had a government only in Madhya Pradesh, led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Meanwhile, sources close to former Rajasthan CM and senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje dismissed concerns among a section of party leaders over a report that her son Dushyant Singh had taken five MLAs to a resort in a “show of strength”.

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“Who takes five MLAs somewhere as a show of strength? It is illogical,” one source said.

Raje’s recent visit to Delhi to meet party president J P Nadda had also caused some buzz among party leaders. But party insiders said there still was no hint whom the party will choose to lead the government in Rajasthan.

Vikas Pathak

Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers. Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers. He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More

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