Amidst the anticipation surrounding the selection of the Chief Ministerial candidate in Madhya Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to convene its legislature party meeting in the state capital, Bhopal, on Monday. The party is expected to unveil the Chief Minister for the state on the same day.
The meeting, slated to take place at the state BJP office around 4 pm, will be overseen by three central observers appointed by the party. The designated central observers include Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, K Laxman, National President of the OBC Morcha, and Aasha Lakda, National Secretary for the state.
Notably, the party last appointed central observers in the state in 2005 when former CM Babu Lal Gaur relinquished the CM post. Subsequently, Shivraj Singh Chouhan assumed office as Chief Minister in November 2005. The last instance of central observers being appointed before this was in 2004, following the departure of former CM Uma Bharti. Since then, no central observers have been designated in the state.
During the state assembly polls in 2008 and 2013, the BJP maintained its dominance, with Chouhan serving as the CM. In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress secured victory, and Kamal Nath took office as the chief minister. However, a political upheaval in 2020 saw Jyotiraditya Scindia and 22 loyalist MLAs switch to the saffron camp, leading to the fall of the Congress government. The BJP then formed the government, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan returning as chief minister.
In the recent elections where the BJP secured a resounding victory with 163 seats, speculation is rife that the party might introduce a new CM face in the state. Madhya Pradesh, which went to the polls for 230 assembly seats on November 17, witnessed vote counting on December 3.
