NEW DELHI, Feb 17: The next Chief Minister of Delhi, along with the council of ministers, is likely to take oath at the Ramlila Maidan on February 20, party sources said on Monday.
The ceremony is expected to be held at around 4.30 pm and is likely to be attended by top BJP leaders, including chief ministers from the party-ruled states, the sources said.
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A BJP legislative party meeting, which was to be held on Monday, has been postponed to most likely Wednesday when the party will finalise the candidate for the chief minister’s post, they said.
The Ramlila Maidan, which can accommodate around 30,000 people, was being spruced up on Monday with its boundary walls getting a fresh coat of paint and workers cleaning the sprawling ground, and the pavements and roads around it.
“The layout of the tents, including a VIP block for dignitaries, is being finalised. Around one lakh people are expected to be inside and outside the venue to celebrate the BJP’s victory in Delhi after 26 years,” a source said.
The BJP returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years by sweeping the recent Assembly polls, the results of which were announced on February 8.
The party ended the decade-long rule of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), winning 48 seats in the 70-member House to AAP’s 22.
The victory was sweetened for the BJP by the defeat of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who lost his New Delhi seat to Parvesh Verma.
The names of several newly-elected MLAs are doing the rounds for the posts of chief minister and ministers.
Those considered frontrunners for the top post include Parvesh Verma, who defeated Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat, and former Delhi BJP presidents Vijender Gupta and Satish Upadhyay.
Pawan Sharma, Ashish Sood, Rekha Gupta and Shikha Rai, among others, are also the contenders for the chief minister’s post.
The names of Ravinder Indraj Singh, the MLA from the Bawana (SC) seat and Kailash Gangwal, who won the Madipur (SC) seat for the BJP for the first time, were also among the contenders for the post.(PTI)
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