The party's 47 newly elected MLAs in Haryana will meet on Tuesday at 12am at the UT State Guest House in Chandigarh to elect their leader. Senior BJP leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will be in Chandigarh as the observer, along with party vice president Dinesh Sharma. "We are hopeful of having a chief minister in place ahead of Diwali," party's Haryana incharge Jagdish Mukshi said.
"The two BJP leaders will take opinion of all the elected MLAs at the meeting," senior BJP leader and party MLA from Ambala Cantonment Anil Vij said today.
"During the meeting, MLAs keen on becoming CM can stake claim before the observers," he said, adding that the final call will be taken by the party high command. Vij, however, said that Haryana's new Chief Minister is likely to take oath on October 22 alongwith some Cabinet ministers.
Senior BJP leader and Karnal MLA Manohar Lal Khattar, a former RSS pracharak, is one of the frontrunners in the CM's race. Khattar represents the economically influential Punjabi community of Haryana. The BJP is unwilling to risk making Captain Abhimanyu, its Jat face, the CM because of its electoral campaign that focused on the consolidation of non-Jat votes. Khattar is reportedly in Delhi for talks. State BJP chief Rambilas Sharma, party's Kisan cell president Om Parkash Dhankar and also Vij are the other contenders.
Sharma, who represents the sizeable Brahmin community of Haryana, is a five time MLA and a former minister. Other Haryana leaders in the Modi cabinet are ministers Sushma Swaraj, Krishan Pal Gujjar and Rao Inderjit Singh. Swaraj is an MP from Madhya Pradesh but hails from Ambala Cantt, and is a two time MLA from Haryana.
The BJP won 47 of the 90 seats, a simple majority in the Haryana assembly. The party had won a mere four seats in 2009, with 75 of its candidates having their security deposit forfeited.
