Jaipur: After a convincing victory in the assembly elections, the political corridors of Rajasthan are abuzz with the question of who is going to be the chief minister as this is for the first time in the history of Rajasthan BJP that the party has gone to the polls without any chief minister face.
The question of the new chief minister has become more important as the BJP high command has always surprised by giving an unpredictable face in the states where the election was held earlier.
Who will be the next Rajasthan CM?
The BJP in Rajasthan has always had a face in the assembly election. Earlier it used to be Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and then came Vasundhara Raje who had led the party in the last four elections.
But after the defeat of the 2018 election, she was alliance and this time there was a list of leaders who were in the race for the chief minister face looking at this the party decided to go with collective leadership and with the face of PM Modi.
Now apart from Vasundhara Raje who is looking for the most likely name considering her stature and support of the winning MLAs who have started reaching her residence in Jaipur, there are Union Minister Arjun Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ashwini Vaishnav, State President CP Joshi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla who are the strong contenders for the highest post.
Besides this, the names of Rajyasabha MP Kirodilal Meena, former MP Om Prakash Mathur, and a senior RSS official Prakash Chand are also there in the list.
'No one can dictate or put conditions'
The sources in the party said that no one can predict the name as only the top three leaders of the party will decide this and as we have seen in other states earlier, it can be anyone. "The party is in a position to form the government on its own so no one can dictate or put conditions. It is an altogether different party now," said a senior leader.
In the meantime, a round of meetings has started right from Jaipur to Delhi to choose the name of the CM. According to sources, state president CP Joshi and state in-charge Arun Singh have gone to Delhi to meet the party's high command. With this, senior BJP leaders and MPs have also reached Delhi.
After the names are finalized in Delhi, a meeting of the BJP legislature party will be called in Jaipur soon. BJP's election in-charge, state in-charge and senior leaders will be present in this meeting. The name of the CM will be announced in the legislature party meeting itself.
Ex-CM Vasundhara Raje met more than 20 MLAs
On the other hand, the new MLAs have started reaching Jaipur and meeting with former chief minister Vasundhara Raje. More than 20 new MLAs met Raje on Monday at her residence in Jaipur.
MLA from Vair constituency Bahadur Singh Koli, who reached Vasundhara Raje's residence, said that the people of Rajasthan demand that Vasundhara Raje should be made the CM. The decision of the CM is to be taken by the top leadership, but, if our opinion is asked then we will put forward the name of Vasundhara Raje. Raje has been Chief Minister twice and has the support of all the MLAs.
