 "BJP appoints central observers for 3 states to pick new chief ministers")
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday named its central observers for electing the leaders of its legislature parties in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
The development comes amid indications that new chief ministers may be named over the weekend.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh, Vinod Tawade, and Saroj Pandey were named the observers for Rajasthan. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, K Laxman, and Asha Lakra were named for Madhya Pradesh. For Chhattisgarh, Union ministers Arjun Munda, Sarbananda Sonowal and Dushyant Gautam were named the central observers.
On Thursday, a senior party leader said that the central observers will visit their respective states to hold meetings with the elected Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The party has not yet announced the names of the candidates for the chief ministerial posts in the three states. In all three states, the BJP fought the Assembly elections without naming any chief ministerial candidate.
The party leader said that while picking names of chief ministers for the three states, the party will keep in mind social, regional, governance and organisational interests.
Following BJP's electoral victory in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, prominent leaders from these states have been holding meetings with top BJP officials, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda. On Thursday, former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje reached the national capital for a meeting with Nadda. Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh Saruta also met Nadda on Thursday. Similarly, Amit Shah met Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, a senior leader from Madhya Pradesh, and Mahant Balak Nath from Rajasthan.
In the recent Assembly elections in 2023, the BJP swept three states: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP bagged 163 seats, while the Congress finished a distant second with 66 seats. In Rajasthan, the BJP is poised to form the government, winning 115 seats, and the Congress trailing at 69 seats. Of the 90 Assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh, the BJP bagged 54, while the Congress won 35.