BJP grapples with CM choice dilemma in UP, Uttarakhand

In Uttarakhand, where the BJP won 55 of the 70 seats, the party has planned a swearing-in ceremony on March 18 but there is no clarity on who would be the CM.

While deploying former defence minister Manohar Parikkar to Goa was a clever move by the BJP, the party opted for N Biren Singh, an import from the Congress, for the top executive job in Manipur.

In UP, where the BJP won 312 of the 403, the party is taking time to finalise the chief ministerial nominee who would fit in the caste equations and be able to deliver on the pro-development agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose campaigning tilted the balance in the electoral battle in BJP's favour. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has refuted reports that he is a strong contender for the top executive job in UP. State unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya was taken ill and admitted to the RML.

In Uttarakhand, the names of Prakash Pant, TS Rawat and former Congress leader Satpal Maharaj are doing the rounds as CM probables. Besides, former chief ministers BC Khanduri, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Congress import Vijay Bahuguna too are in the queue.

In Punjab, where the Congress won handsomely getting 77 of the 117 seats, the party lined up a battery of senior leaders like former PM Manmohan Singh, party vice president Rahul Gandhi, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot at Amarinder Singh's swearing-in ceremony.

The event which was kept low key, keeping in mind the poor finances of the state, was marked by chanting of hymns from the Gita, Koran, Bible and Guru Granth Sahib to convey the Congress' inclusive politics.

Some key decisions flowing from poll promises are expected when Amarinder will chair the first cabinet meeting on Saturday. Farm loan waiver, industrial revival, employment generation and ending the drug menace are high on Amarinder's agenda, said party leaders.

Rahul reiterated his allegation that the BJP used money power to form governments in Goa and Manipur.

In Goa, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar won the votes of 22 lawmakers in the 40-member Assembly. Besides the 12 BJP members, three members each from the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party besides three independents and one NCP member voted in favour of Parrikar. The Congress, which had challenged the swearing-in the Supreme Court, could manage only 16 legislators. Congress MLA Vishwajit Rane, who abstained from the trust vote, later quit the party. Local party leaders have blamed state in charge Digvijaya Singh of not responding to the challenge in time.