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BJP’s Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pick Likely Today, Goa Still In Suspense

The BJP won 47 seats in the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly, cementing its second consecutive term in the state

New Delhi: The BJP is likely to announce its Chief Minister pick for Uttarakhand today after a meeting of newly elected MLAs in state capital Dehradun. The MLAs will be sworn in at 11 am. The party’s central observers for the hill state, Union Minister Rajnath Singh and Meenakshi Lekhi, will oversee the Chief Minister’s name announcement.

Yesterday, Home Minister Amit Shah met with Uttarakhand’s acting Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and senior BJP leaders, including party chief JP Nadda, in Delhi to discuss government formation in the state.

The BJP won 47 seats in the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly, cementing its second consecutive term in the state. However, Mr Dhami lost the election from Khatima constituency.

The contenders for the top post in Uttarakhand are Mr Dhami, BJP’s Uttarakhand General Secretary Suresh Bhatt, party MP Anil Baluni; MLAs Dhan Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj and Ritu Khanduri, and party MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

There is also suspense over the top post in Goa where a race is in progress between Pramod Sawant and Vishwajit Rane. Earlier this week, sources said Mr Sawant is likely to get a second term at the top post. The decision is likely to be made today before the BJP meets the Governor to stake claim to form government.

In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will take oath for his second term on Friday, the BJP said earlier last week. But there has been no word on the size of his cabinet or the names finalised for various ministries.