BJP likely to announce name of next Uttarakhand CM today

Pushkar Singh Dhami, the care-taker CM, lost to Congress’ Bhuwan Chandra Kapri.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to announce the chief minister of Uttarakhand after a meeting of newly elected members of legislative assembly (MLA) in Dehradun on Monday. The MLAs will take oath of office at 11 am.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh and minister of state for external affairs Meenakshi Lekhi will be present in the meeting of MLAs that will finalise the next chief minister of the hill state.

The BJP won 47 seats in the 70 member assembly, paving the way for a second consecutive term in Uttarakhand. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, however, lost the election from the Khatima constituency.

READ : BJP to announce name of next Goa CM, stake claim to form govt

Union home minister Amit Shah had held a meeting with Dhami on Sunday. Senior leaders, including party chief JP Nadda, were present in the meeting held in Delhi to discuss government formation in the state.

Among the names doing rounds for the top post include Dhami, Uttarakhand general secretary Suresh Bhatt, MP Anil Baluni, legislators Dhan Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj and Ritu Khanduri, and MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

The BJP won elections in four out of five states that went to polls recently.

The suspense over the name of the next chief minister of Goa is also expected to end today when the BJP will hold the much-awaited legislature party meeting and call on the governor to stake a claim to form the government. The saffron party won 20 seats in the 40-member House and secured the support of two MLAs of MGP and three Independents. This will be the third straight term of BJP in Goa.

BJP leader and caretaker chief minister Pramod Sawant is the clear favourite for the post of chief minister but faces some opposition.

In Uttar Pradesh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath will take oath for his second term on March 25. But there has been no word on the size of his cabinet or the names finalised for various ministries.