Uttar Pradesh: Now, it’s kissa kursi ka
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, an erstwhile BJP veteran from Mumbai, jumped the gun on Friday to announce the swearing-in of the new chief minister on Sunday at 5 pm even while suspense continues over who will lead the country’s largest state.
Union Minister of State for Telecom Manoj Sinha is the front-runner, but he too appeared in a denial mode on Friday much like Home Minister Rajnath Singh who told reporters in Parliament that he neither knows about “any race nor is he in the race”. The party’'s state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya is also a contender, but no surprise if the final choice falls on a relatively lesser- known leader.
Party sources say Rajnath Singh may be out of the reckoning since he is a Thakur and the BJP has already picked Trivendra Singh Rawat, also a Thakur, as the chief minister of neighbouring Uttarakhand.
The BJP has called a meeting of its newly-elected Uttar Pradesh MLAs in Lucknow on Saturday afternoon. State BJP chief Maurya was on Friday discharged from a Delhi hospital after a day’'s hospitalisation due to complaint of uneasiness. He is seen as a favourite if the party opts for an OBC face. He comes from a backward community. Asked if he could be the CM, Maurya said it is for the legislature party to decide and the sanctity of its meeting would be lost if the name of the new chief minister is revealed before that.
Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu and national general-secretary Bhupinder Yadav will most likely inform the MLAs about the BJP leadership’'s choice at the meeting and seek the MLAs’ endorsement.
Sources said both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah will attend the swearing-in of the new chief minister and his Cabinet on Sunday.
Rajnath Singh told the press in Parliament that he neither knows about any race for the top job nor is he in any race