JOIN USA meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs on Tuesday here will decide the next chief minister of Haryana.
Senior leader Manohar Lal Khattar, a Punjabi who won from Karnal Assembly seat, is the front-runner for the post, sources in the party told Deccan Herald.
Senior leader and Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu will chair Tuesday’s meeting.
The BJP is keen on having a non-Jat chief minister for its first government in the state. The possibility of such an announcement has an inherent disadvantage as Haryana has 23 per cent Jat population and the BJP could be at risk with this vote base.
But the fact remains that the BJP’s vote share and a more than 10-fold increase in its share of seats in this elections is largely because of the polarisation of non-Jat votes to its advantage.
BJP MLA Capt Abhimanyu, Om Prakash Dhankar, state unit president Ram Bilas Sharma are also fancying their chances to occupy the chief minister’s post.