The BJP beat anti-incumbency to win Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Yet, there is unfinished business of formally picking up chief ministers in these states. While Uttar Pradesh and Manipur have had a decisive mandate, the loss of CM in Uttarakhand has put the party in a quandary.
Uttarakhand has gone the Himachal way for the BJP. The party won the assembly elections in 2017, but the contender for the post of chief minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal, lost. The saffron party then picked MLA Jairam Thakur as the CM face. The party is faced with a same dilemma in Uttarakhand where chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lost his seat, but the party scored a victory.
The party has deputed Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan as party observers, who will hold discussions with newly elected MLAs and decide on the CM. Some of the MLAs have already announced that they were ready to vacate their seat for Dhami for him to get elected.
It's easier for the party to pick a new face from among the MLAs than undergo the process of getting Dhami elected again, and party leadership could be veering towards it too. However, till BJP announces the name, there is always uncertainty, give the central leadership’s style of maintaining secrecy, and picking up an unlikely face.
The party had already suffered an embarrassment as Tirath Singh Rawat, MP, was picked as CM after the resignation of Trivendra Singh Rawat. However, as elections could not held due to Covid restrictions, Tirath Singh had to resign and then Dhami was picked.
Dhami was the youngest CM in the state, and in the available time, he led the state efficiently. If the party does not pick him, the other options are Dhan Singh Rawat and state party president Madan Kaushik. The central party leadership is conscious of the age of leaders to be entrusted with CM post; Satpal Maharaj and Bansidhar Bhagat fall on the higher side.
If the party decides to pick a leader from those in Parliament, then again, the leader has to be got elected to the state assembly. From the central leaders, Anil Baluni and Ajay Bhatt fit the bill.
In Goa too, the party is yet to firmly endorse Pramod Sawant's name. The state leadership is awaiting directions from the central leadership on whom to pick as the CM. The party won 20 seats, one short of majority. It now has the support of three independents and Maharashtra Gomantak Party MLAs.
While there should be no trouble for the party in Manipur, the party will need to firmly tell those in the state unit who could be pushing for a change in CM face.
In the neighbouring state of Assam, where, though the party won the elections under CM Sarbananda Sonowal, it picked Himanta Biswa as the new CM. The situation will be clear once the state legislators meet the central observers.
