New Delhi:
The name of Delhi’s new chief minister- the first from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the national capital in nearly three decades- will be announced by this evening, party sources told the media Wednesday morning.
The selection process will begin at noon, when the BJP’s Parliamentary board- its highest decision-making body- meets to decide ‘observers’ for the gathering of newly-elected legislators later today.
PM Modi- whose trip to France and the United States delayed the selection process- is expected to attend this meeting at the BJP’s Delhi HQ.
The MLAs will then meet at 6.15 pm to select their leader in the Assembly, who will become the Chief Minister and will take his/her oath of office in a grand ceremony starting 11 am Thursday.
Delhi: BJP Delhi General Secretary Visshnu Mittal on Delhi CM’s face says, “Everything is going well, and the atmosphere is fantastic. The decision on who will become the Chief Minister will be made this evening…Whoever our top leadership will decides will become the Chief… pic.twitter.com/VuWFLnn5WD
— IANS (@ians_india) February 19, 2025
The oath taking ceremony:
Oath ceremony – to be held at the city’s iconic Ramlila Maidan – will run from 11 am to 12.34 pm, sources said. The oath itself will be at 12.05 pm.
Sources also said there will be three stages set up – one for the PM, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, and the new Chief Minister, a second for invited religious leaders, and a third for MPs and MLAs, of whom over 200, from the BJP and allies, have been invited.
Atishi, the outgoing Chief Minister and AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal have also been invited, as has Devender Yadav, the head of the Congress’ Delhi unit.
The suspense over the CM post:
Last week media was told a shortlist of 15 names had been finalised, from among the 48 BJP MLAs, to fill the posts of Chief Minister, members of his/her cabinet, and Assembly Speaker.
The odds are in the favor of two-time ex-MP Parvesh Verma, who defeated Arvind Kejriwal to win the New Delhi constituency.
Others likely on the BJP’s Chief ministerial shortlist are the party’s Delhi unit leader, Virendra Sachdeva, and Bansuri Swaraj, a first-time MP who is the daughter of the late former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj. Satish Upadhyay, the BJP’s Brahmin face in Delhi, is also an option.
There has also been buzz that the BJP could pick a woman as Chief Minister. Four of the BJP’s new MLAs are women – Neelam Pahalwan, Rekha Gupta, Poonam Sharma, and Shikha Roy.
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