New Delhi:
The name of Delhi’s new Chief Minister – the first from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the national capital in nearly three decades – will be announced by this evening, party sources told NDTV Wednesday morning.
The selection process began at noon, when the BJP’s Parliamentary Board – its highest decision-making body – met to decide ‘observers’ for the gathering of newly-elected legislators later today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi – whose trip to France and the United States delayed the selection process – attended that meeting. The BJP’s MLAs will now meet at 6.15 pm – with those ‘observers’ present – to select their leader in the Assembly, who will become the Chief Minister.
The new Chief Minister will then take his/her oath in a grand ceremony at 11 am Thursday.
The oath ceremony – to be held at the city’s iconic Ramlila Maidan – will run from 11 am to 12.34 pm, sources said. The oath itself will be at 12.05 pm.
Sources also said there will be three stages set up – one for the PM, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, and the new Chief Minister, a second for invited religious leaders, and a third for MPs and MLAs, of whom over 200, from the BJP and allies, have been invited.
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Atishi, the outgoing Chief Minister and AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal have also been invited, as has Devender Yadav, the head of the Congress’ Delhi unit.
Delhi Chief Minister Suspense
Last week NDTV was told a shortlist of 15 names had been finalised, from among the 48 BJP MLAs, to fill the posts of Chief Minister, members of his/her cabinet, and Assembly Speaker.
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The odds-on favourite for the big post is two-time ex-MP Parvesh Verma, who defeated Arvind Kejriwal to win the New Delhi constituency.
Others likely on the BJP’s chief ministerial shortlist are the party’s Delhi unit leader, Virendra Sachdeva, and Bansuri Swaraj, a first-time MP who is the daughter of the late former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj. Satish Upadhyay, the BJP’s Brahmin face in Delhi, is also an option.
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There has also been buzz that the BJP could pick a woman as Chief Minister. Four of the BJP’s new MLAs are women – Neelam Pahalwan, Rekha Gupta, Poonam Sharma, and Shikha Roy.
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Ms Pahalwan was the first woman MLA from Najafgarh seat, Ms Gupta is the former President of the Delhi University Students’ Union, Ms Sharma won the Wazirpur seat, and Ms Roy emerged as another -giant slayer’, defeating senior AAP leader and Saurabh Bharadwaj for the Greater Kailash seat.
And there are caste equations, something which the BJP has historically considered when selecting Chief Ministers; similar delays after wins in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in 2023 are an example.
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Four of the new MLAs are from Scheduled Castes – Raj Kumar Chauhan, elected from Mangolpuri; Ravikant Ujjain from Trilokpuri; Ravinder Indraj Singh from Bawana; and Kailash Gangwal from Madipur.
Delhi Election Results
Suspense over Delhi’s next Chief Minister has been building since the afternoon of February 8, when it became apparent the BJP had scripted a remarkable return to power in Delhi.
Mr Modi’s party – which had been kept at bay in Delhi for 26 years, first by the Congress and then the AAP – swept 48 of the city’s 70 Assembly seats en route to victory.
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For context, the party managed a combined 11 in the two previous Delhi elections.
The AAP, looking to win a third straight term, found itself dragged down by attacks targeting party boss Arvind Kejriwal over the ‘sheeshmahal‘ and liquor excise policy scandals, and won 22 seats.
Again, for context, the party dominated the 2015 and 2020 polls, winning 67 and 62 seats.
The Congress was routed for a third consecutive election.
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