Uttarakhand BJP legislators to meet on Monday to elect new leader

NEW DELHI: The newly elected BJP MLAs of

Uttarakhand

will meet in Dehradun on Monday to choose their leader who will be the next chief minister of the hill state where the party has stormed back to power for an unprecedented second successive term.

The decision to convene a meeting of the MLAs was taken after state BJP leaders including caretaker chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Trivendra Singh Rawat (both former CMs), among others, met the party's central leadership at Union home minister Amit Shah's residence here, state party chief Madan Kaushik said.

Besides Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh were also present in the meeting that lasted more than an hour.

Kaushik, who also attended the meeting, said the BJP legislative party will meet Monday evening after the MLAs have taken the oath as members of the state assembly.

Earlier in the day, Dhami said the process of government formation is underway and the BJP's central leadership will take a call on the next chief minister.

The party has appointed defence minister Rajnath Singh as the observer for government formation in the state.

The BJP, despite its emphatic win, has been in a bit of quandary over the new chief minister as Dhami, who spearheaded its successful campaign, lost his Khatami seat.

A section of the party's state unit still wants Dhami as the chief minister, while some favour a change.

The BJP clinched 47 seats in the 70-member assembly.