Rajasthan BJP legislature party meet at 4 pm, suspense over CM to end

Jaipur: The suspense over who will be the new chief minister of Rajasthan is likely to end Tuesday evening with a BJP Legislature Party meeting scheduled to be held at 4 pm.BJP state general secretary and MLA Bhajanlal Sharma said the meeting will take place at the party's state headquarters in the presence of BJP central observer Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and two co-observers -- national vice president Saroj Pandey and national general secretary Vinod Tawde.

He said all newly elected MLAs have been asked to compulsorily attend the meeting. The announcement of the chief minister will be made in the meeting.

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Ashwini Vaishnaw are said to be among the frontrunners for the chief minister's post in Rajasthan, one of three states that the BJP won in the recent elections.

The BJP won 115 seats out of the 199 that went to polls. Polling was postponed in one constituency due to the death of a candidate.

Several BJP MLAs have called on former chief minister Raje in recent days in what was seen as a show of support, amid speculations the party may spring a surprise this time. She also met party leaders in Delhi.

However, the party leaders including Rajendra Rathore, who lost the elections, said there is no tradition of show of strength in the BJP.

He said on Monday that MLAs go to meet senior leaders to exchange wishes and it should not be seen in that sense only, and asserted that all BJP leaders in the state are united.