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MLAs to elect Chauhan as leader today
S. Satyanarayanan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 27
Madhya Pradesh BJP Legislature Party will meet in Bhopal tomorrow to formally elect State Party President Shivraj Singh Chauhan as its leader, paving the way for him to become the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister. He succeeds Mr Babu Lal Gaur.

“Tomorrow the state BJP Legislature Party will meet at 6 pm to elect Mr Chauhan as the leader and soon after that he would meet the state Governor to stake claim. On Tuesday, he will take oath as Chief Minister,” BJP General Secretary and in charge of Madhya Pradesh affairs Arun Jaitley told The Tribune.

The Legislature Party meeting will be held in the presence of party observers and general secretaries Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan and Rajnath Singh.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting convened by Mr Jaitley, Mr Mahajan and General Secretary (Organisation) Sanjay Joshi.

Mr Chauhan, who was busy meeting top central leaders of the party here and accepting the greetings of those called on him here at his official residence, is leaving for Bhopal tomorrow morning by train. He will arrive in Bhopal tomorrow afternoon to rousing welcome by his supporters.

Mr Chauhan told The Tribune that soon after he was appointed as Chief Minister, he would quit the position of the state BJP President. He indicated that as an immediate step, one of the state Vice-Presidents will take the charge of the party unit and subsequently the Central leadership will decide on who will be the next state President.

While Mr Jaitley refused to divulge whether today’s meeting also drew the list of those who will be appointed as ministers in Mr Chauhan’s Cabinet, sources said a debate in this regard did take place during the meeting but all the names could not be decided.

Sources said since the central leadership does not want any fresh feud in the party unit in Madhya Pradesh, it wishes to draw the list of ministers in such a manner that it is a “balanced” one.

Justifying the selection of Mr Chauhan as the next Chief Minister, Mr Mahajan told newspersons that: “He is young, but experienced party leader. He had been Lok Sabha MP five times, once MLA and he has shouldered many important responsibility in the party, including party General Secretary. Moreover, he had been the state President for the past eight months.”

Ignoring firebrand leader Uma Bharti’s claim for the top post, BJP Central Parliamentary Board, attended among others by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and party President L K Advani, had yesterday announced the nomination of Mr Chauhan as the next Chief Minister replacing Mr Gaur.

However, the Parliamentary Board had sought to placate Ms Uma Bharti by appointing her as BJP General Secretary.

An OBC like Bharti, the 46-year-old Chauhan, would be one of the youngest Chief Ministers of the Country.

Meanwhile, Ms Bharti preferred to keep away from media glare. Ever since, it was formally announced that Mr Chauhan will be the new Chief Minister, she first went to her Vasant Kunj residence in South Delhi and this morning quietly left with one of her family friends here to an undisclosed destination.

“She is deeply hurt by the party’s decision as it was undemocratic and arbitrary,” a close confidante of Ms Bharti told The Tribune here on the condition of anonymity.