BJP observers Arjun Munda, Sarbananda Sonowal reach Raipur, to attend legislature party meeting

RAIPUR: BJP central observers Sarbananda Sonowal and Arjun Munda arrived in Raipur from New Delhi amid suspense over the party's Chief Minister candidate in Chhattisgarh. BJP observers are likely to attend a meeting with newly elected legislators regarding the Chief Ministerial candidate in the State.

Union Health Minister and BJP's Chhattisgarh co-incharge Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, also arrived in Raipur to attend the meeting.

Amid suspense over the Chief Minister's post, Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced its Central observers in their recently won states--Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Pandey and Vinod Tavde, National Secretary General have been appointed as observers in Rajasthan.

In Madhya Pradesh, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, K Laxman, National President, OBC Morcha and Aasha Lakda, National Secretary have been given the responsibility. For Chhattisgarh, alongside Munda and Sonowal, BJP leader Dushyant Gautam has also been appointed as observer.

Earlier Union Minister Arjun Munda said that the Chief Minister candidate would be named in the legislative party meeting.

"It is time to form the government after getting the majority. There will be a meeting of the legislative party and the leader will be chosen. The other formalities will be completed soon. I will go there (Chhattisgarh) and the leader will be chosen in the legislative party meeting," Arjun Munda told ANI.

Meanwhile, the Opposition is questioning the BJP over the delay in the appointment of Chief Ministers in three states. Rajasthan caretaker Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot criticized the BJP's delay in announcing CM faces for three Hindi heartland states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, saying that "there is no discipline in this party."

"There is no discipline in this party. If we had done the same, I don't know what allegations they would have levelled against us and misled people. They polarized the polls. We will cooperate with the new government," he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party over its process of naming Chief Ministers in three states where the party registered Assembly polls victories and said that BJP is playing musical chairs right now with only two people Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah taking the call.

"Because they (BJP) are busy in musical chairs. They have the majority, and people have expressed their trust in him. Elected MLAs have to make a decision that who will be the leader. But that process has been done away in the BJP. Only two people make decisions on the CM - PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.Results were out on December 3 and today is 7th December," Priyanka Chaturvedi said.

The election results in four states, especially the losses in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, came as a huge blow to the Congress's hopes for 2024 as it is now out of power across a vast swathe of the Hindi heartland.

The BJP, which had been battling close to 20 years of incumbency, won a resounding mandate bagging 163 seats while the Congress finished a distant second at 66 seats in Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan, the vote count painted a starkly different picture to what some of the pollsters had predicted, with the BJP poised to form the government, winning 115 seats, and the Congress trailing at 69 seats. Of the 90 assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh, the BJP bagged 54 while the Congress won 35.