New Delhi, Feb 11 The BJP continued to maintain suspense over its next Chief Minister in Delhi even as 10 new-elected legislators met National President J.P. Nadda on Tuesday and shared views about possible candidates for the top post.
The discussion, though described as a courtesy call, involved seeking the MLAs' views on the need for having a deputy chief minister, said a party leader.
A final decision on picking the Delhi Chief Minister is likely to be taken around February 15 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his foreign visit, he said.
The leader said Nadda also gathered feedback from the 10 MLAs about the party’s campaign strategy in their respective Assembly seats.
The 10 legislators who met Nadda included Vijender Gupta, Satish Upadhyay, Kapil Mishra, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Anil Goyal, Anil Kumar, Shika Rai, Rekha Gupta, Kulwant Rana and Ajay Mahawar.
The discussion held by Nadda with BJP MLAs coincided with the defeated AAP’s closed-door session involving Punjab legislators at National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in Delhi.
The discussions with Punjab MLAs came against the backdrop of speculation about the possibility of some AAP legislators jumping ship.
A day earlier, Kejriwal met the AAP’s 22 new Delhi legislators and asked them to play the constructive role of an Opposition.
On Tuesday, the former Delhi Chief Minister advised Punjab legislators to strive hard and aim to win the Assembly election in the agrarian state in 2027.
Besides Kejriwal, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sandeep Pathak were also present in the meeting in which they thanked Punjab leaders for their efforts in the party’s Delhi Assembly election campaign and dissected the loss in the national Capital to take forward the learnings from it, said a party leader.
After the AAP meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Mann said discussions were also held on developing his state as a model which could be showcased in other states, now that the party’s Delhi model has been rendered irrelevant after its defeat in the Capital’s Assembly election.
The AAP, which had been in power in Delhi for a decade, suffered a major setback in the February 5 polls, securing only 22 seats in the 70-member House.
The BJP with 48 seats ended the AAP's rule in the national Capital, raising concerns about the party's electoral prospects elsewhere.
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