BJP appoints observers for election of legislative party leader in UP, U'khand, Goa & Manipur

New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) The BJP on Monday appointed central observers and co-observers to elect the leader of legislative party (chief minister) in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

The party has appointed Union Home Minister Amit Shah and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghuvar Das as central observers for Uttar Pradesh.

In a statement, the BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said, "Parliamentary Board of the Bharatiya Janata Party has appointed central observers and co-observers for the election of the leader of the legislative party in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa Assembly."

For Uttarakhand, the BJP has appointed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi as observers for election of leader of legislative party.

Similalry, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju have been appointed central observers for Manipur.

For election of legislative party leader in Goa, the BJP has appointed Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry L. Murugan as central observers.

The party has created history by winning Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for the second consecutive term. It has also won the majority in Manipur for the first time on its own. Also, the party is set to form the government in Goa for third term by winning 20 out of the 40 Assembly constituencies.

A senior party functionary said that after appointment of central observers and co-observers, the process of election of new chief ministers in these four states has been started. "Now, the central observers will call a meeting of the legislative party to elect a new leader. After the election of the leader of the legislative party, the BJP will stake claim to form the government and a new government will be sworn in at the earliest," he added.