Rajnath, Yediyurappa, Arjun Munda central observers for BJP MLAs' meet to pick Gujarat CM

The BJP registered a historic victory in Gujarat on Thursday by clinching 156 seats in the 182-member House

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday appointed a team of central observers to oversee the election of leader for the legislature party in Gujarat. The three-member team has Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa and Union tribal minister Arjun Munda.

The observers will hold a meeting of the party’s newly-elected legislators on Saturday to elect the leader of the BJP legislature party, who will be the chief minister. The BJP won a record seventh term in the state, winning 156 of the 182 seats in the assembly with Bhupendra Patel as the chief minister.

The BJP had earlier said that Patel will be retained in his position; however, there were speculations prior to the polls that Patel might not be retained as the CM. The results in Gujarat, where the BJP managed to win 53 per cent vote share, have cemented his comeback to the state for a second term.

Though the party has not yet announced it, sources said that the oath-taking ceremony will be held at Ahmedabad on December 12. Party leaders also said that there is a strong likelihood that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the party’s state headquarters – Shree Kamalam at Gandhinagar – in the coming days.

“I had said that Bhupendra will break Narendra’s record, and for that, Narendra will work relentlessly with all his heart and mind,” PM Modi said on Thursday at the party’s headquarters in the Capital after the record-breaking results were announced.