BJP likely to name central observers for picking new chief ministers on Friday

New Delhi: The BJP is likely to name central observers for electing the leaders of its legislature parties in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan on Friday amid indications that new chief ministers may be named over the weekend.

A senior party leader said the observers for all the three states are expected to be named on Friday. They will then travel to the respective stateto oversee the meetings of newly elected MLAs where the future chief ministers will be named.

He said no decision has been taken yet on the choices of the chief minister and the party will keep in mind social, regional, governance and organisational interests in picking the three CMs.

Leaders from three states have been meeting the top party brass, including Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda, but sources played down their significance, saying such meetings are routine.

"So many state leaders have been meeting our national leadership. There can be only three chief ministers. One should not be reading too much into it," a source said, noting that many of the probables include MPs who have resigned from Parliament and are meeting national leaders as courtesy.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, a seasoned BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, and Baba Balaknath, who is from Rajasthan, met Shah on Thursday. Both quit Lok Sabha after becoming members of assemblies of their states.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, whose meeting with many newly-elected MLAs have raised a few eyebrows, is also in the national capital. She may also meet senior party leaders, sources said.

Tomar and Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel, who comes from politically significant Other Backward Classes, are seen as possible chief ministerial choices in Madhya Pradesh along with the incumbent Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Patel and Tomar are among 12 BJP MPs who have been elected to three state assemblies and have quit their parliamentary memberships.

Chhattisgarh BJP president Arun Sao, an OBC, Union minister Gomati Sai and Lata Usendi, both of whom come from Scheduled Tribes, are seen as serious contenders for the top seat in the state due to their social background, image and relatively young profile.