The BJP will announce the state's new chief minister on Wednesday ending the suspense as the party returns after a long 27 years in Delhi. The legislative party meeting of the BJP MLAs will be held at the state unit's office in Delhi around 7 pm, said reports.
The BJP has also set a record in Delhi by taking 11 days to announce the name of the chief minister. While the decision came within a week in Odisha, it took nine days for the BJP to pick Bhajanlal Sharma in Rajasthan. Mohan Yadav was named Madhya Pradesh CM after eight days. Chhattisgarh, another state where BJP stormed into power, had a CM after seven days.
This delay triggered a controversy after AAP alleged that the party didn't find any worthy face from the 48 MLAs who won the elections.
Six frontrunners and 'dark horse' predictions
So far, six names are doing rounds for the top post. These include Parvesh Verma, who defeated Kejriwal; former Delhi BJP presidents Vijender Gupta and Satish Upadhyay; former Mayor Rekha Gupta, Ashish Sood and Pawan Sharma.
Shikha Rai, Ravinder Indraj Singh, the MLA from the Bawana (SC) seat, and Kailash Gangwal, who won the Madipur (SC) seat, are also doing rounds. However, the predictions could all fall flat as the BJP has the practice of springing a surprise. Many within the party believe that the BJP leadership could choose a "dark horse" as Delhi's next chief minister, a strategy the party employed in Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh.
The Chief Minister and six other cabinet members will take oath at Ramlila Maidan on Thursday afternoon. However, the names of the Cabinet ministers will come only on Thursday.
Swearing-in ceremony
Delhi's famous Ramlila Maidan is being prepared for the grand swearing-in ceremony which will happen on Thursday. Delhi State BJP President Virendra Sachdeva inspected Ramlila Maidan along with BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde and Tarun Chugh, who are handling the responsibility of the swearing-in ceremony.
They also held a meeting at the state office in which National Organization General Secretary BL Santosh also participated. After the meeting, Tawde, Chugh and Sachdeva met the Lieutenant Governor.