The first meeting of the BJP’s Legislature Party is likely to be held on Sunday, according to party insiders. It will be attended by the 48 newly-elected MLAs and presided over by two senior members from the BJP national leadership appointed to oversee the selection of the Chief Minister and the Cabinet members.
Since Saturday, multiple rounds of discussions over government formation, and the possible composition of Delhi’s seven-member Council of Ministers, have taken place between the top brass of the RSS and the BJP, sources added.
“Both RSS and senior BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, have been part of discussions on both government formation as well as possible changes in Delhi BJP ranks,” a senior leader said.
“After the meeting of the Parliamentary Board, observers — possibly the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states or senior MPs — will be appointed to oversee the proceedings of the legislature party meeting where a final decision will be taken regarding the 10-odd prominent governmental and administrative posts,” the leader added.
On Wednesday, sources said, the Delhi BJP leadership is scheduled to hold a marathon meeting with members of over 40 committees — which were constituted with specific responsibilities related to the Assembly elections — to dissect the results and assess the possible reasons behind its loss in 22 constituencies.
“There is a possibility that the seven-member Cabinet, including the Chief Minister, may include a BJP MLA from each of Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats chosen according to the required caste combination… decided upon by both RSS and BJP leaderships,” a party insider said.
“On the other hand, at least one Cabinet minister may be a senior Sikh face, such as Arvinder Singh Lovely (Gandhi Nagar MLA-elect) or Manjinder Singh Sirsa (Rajouri Garden MLA-elect) in addition to at least one woman minister. There is also the possibility of accommodating one woman MLA on the post of the Deputy Speaker,” the source added.
Story continues below this ad
According to party insiders, Kailash Gangwal, who won from Madipur, Ravinder Indraj Singh (Bawana), Raj Kumar Chauhan (Mangol Puri), and Ravi Kant (Trilokpuri) could be among the SC MLAs who could be inducted into the Cabinet.
Rekha Gupta (Shalimar Bagh), Vijender Gupta (Rohini), and Tilak Ram Gupta (Tri Nagar) could be among the senior leaders from the Baniya community to be chosen for a prominent role either in the Cabinet or the Assembly.
With 10 Jat MLAs among those elected, the BJP is likely to face its toughest challenge at ensuring “balanced representation” from the community on “prominent posts”, including non-constitutional ones such as deputy chief minister, sources said.