A day after an unexpected selection of the chief minister in Madhya Pradesh, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is reportedly preparing for another surprise, this time from Rajasthan. The saffron party will announce the next chief minister of Rajasthan on Tuesday. The CM designate will be announced after the legislature party meeting scheduled to take place at 4 pm.
The saffron party’s selection of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh chief ministers was in stark contrast to the experts’ expectations. The same is likely to happen in Rajasthan as well, hinted BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena on Tuesday.
The party’s meeting will be attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with senior leaders Vinod Tawde and Saroj Pande, appointed as party observers.
Ahead of the meeting, the registration of all newly elected MLAs of the BJP started at 1.30 pm, BJP state general secretary and MLA Bhajanlal Sharma told ANI.
Rajasthan CM announcement: Leading candidates in the race
Several prominent members are emerging for the CM post, including former CM Vasundhara Raje, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Aswhini Vaishnaw.
Vasundhara Raje
One of the leading candidates in the race is former CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia. She was one of the leading forces behind the BJP’s victory in Rajasthan. The 70-year-old MLA from Jhalawat has been trying hard to move as many BJP MLAs as she can in her support. However, her selection looks quite difficult given the party’s mood to select a ‘fresh face’ as chief minister.
Arjun Ram Meghwal
Apart from Scindia, Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is another candidate in the race. The three-time parliamentarian has also served as a bureaucrat in the past. His hometown is Bikaner and he chose politics over his Indian Administrative Service job in 2009. In that year, he won the Lok Sabha election from Bikaner.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
The Rajput face of the party in Rajasthan, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also stands a chance to be selected as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. One of the major milestones of his political career was the time when he defeated Ahok Gehlot’s son, Vaibhav Gehlot, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Jodhpur. He is known to have close ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Ashwini Vaishnaw
Another popular name on the list is that of Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. He is a member of the Rajya Sabha from Odisha since 2019. Currently, he is managing the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Ministry of Communications.
CP Joshi
State president CP Joshi is also a top contender for the post. However, the state chief rejected the news of being in the CM race this time.
He won the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 with a victory margin of 5,76,000 votes, defeating Gopal Singh Shekhawat of Congress.
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