A meeting is in progress at the official residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the formation of government in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur.
Sources said the Prime Minister is being briefed on the decisions taken by the party’s top leadership in consultation with the state leaders. Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and party chief JP Nadda are present at the meeting.
The party’s central observers will be going to the states tomorrow, sources said. After the party’s huge victory in four of the five states where assembly polls were held recently, the party has had a balancing act managing the “internal expectations” of the state leaders, sources have indicated.
In states like Goa and Manipur, that has developed into factionalism, with multiple candidates emerging for the post of the Chief Minister.
Earlier today, the BJP announced that N Biren Singh will continue as the Chief Minister of Manipur for a second straight term. The announcement came a day after Mr Singh, along with the other contenders — Biswajit Singh and Yumnam Khemchand — met the top leadership of the party.
There is also suspense over the top post in Goa where a race is in progress between Pramod Sawant and Vishwajit Rane. Earlier this week, sources said Mr Sawant is likely to get a second term at the top post. The decision is likely to be made tomorrow before the BJP meets the Governor to stake claim to form government.
In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will take oath for his second term on Friday, the BJP said earlier this week. But there has been no word on the size of his cabinet or the names finalised for various ministries.
A key question is whether or not Yogi Adityanath’s deputy in last term, Keshav Maurya, will be included. Mr Maurya has lost the election to Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) candidate Pallavi Patel, who was contesting on a Samajwadi Party ticket.
Sources indicated that senior leader AK Sharma has emerged as a contender for the post.
Yogi Adityanath has had several rounds of talks with PM Modi and the BJP’s central leadership on candidates for his cabinet.