The BJP on Friday appointed senior leaders Rajnath Singh, Manohar Lal Khattar and Arjun Munda as central observers for electing the leader of the legislative party in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh respectively. The new legislative party leaders are set to become chief ministers of the three states.
Out of the five states that went to polls, the BJP won three states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. While Congress' Revanth Reddy and ZPM's Lalduhoma have been sworn in as Chief Ministers of Telangana and Mizoram respectively, the BJP is yet to pick its chief ministers for the three states.
According to a party statement, besides Rajnath Singh, party leaders Saroj Pandey and Vinod Tawde are also being sent to Rajasthan as central observers. Similarly, besides Khattar, party leaders K Laxman and Asha Lakra are being sent to Madhya Pradesh as central observers. For Chhattisgarh, besides Munda, another Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and party leader Dushwant Kumar Gautam are being sent as central observers.
Possible CM faces in MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh
In Madhya Pradesh, apart from Shivraj Singh Chouhan who is a strong contender for the CM post, Union ministers Prahlad Patel, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narendra Singh Tomar are also being seen as probable CM faces.
In Rajasthan, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Ram Meghwal are considered among the frontrunners for the chief minister's post.
In Chhattisgarh, former chief minister Raman Singh, State BJP chief and party MP Arun Sao and Ex-IAS officer OP Choudhary are some of the top contenders.