BJP appoints Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, other top leaders as observers of election

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janaya Party (BJP) Parliamentary Board on Thursday appointed central observers of elections for the states of Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. 

In Rajasthan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and party Vice-President Avinash Rai Khanna were appointed as the observers. Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe were elected in Madhya Pradesh. Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot and BJP  National General Secretary Anil Jain were appointed in Chhattisgarh.

The decision to appoint senior leaders as election observers come weeks after the party lost the three core states in the 2018 assembly elections.

Briefing the media on the development, Union Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said that the dates for the legislature party meetings in the states will be decided later in consultation with state units, state presidents and MLAs.

The BJP held its the parliamentary board meeting earlier in the day which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and other senior leaders.

Party sources added that the leaders also deliberated on the current political issues and added that the appointment of observers was the main agenda. 

Former Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh, both of whom were at the helm in their states for three consecutive terms, and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje were elected as MLA during the assembly polls last month.

The BJP sources said the leadership may go for new faces in some of these states but former chief ministers will continue to play a key role as the party works to change its fortunes there during the Lok Sabha polls, which are expected to be over by May. 

With agency inputs