New Delhi: While it has been 10 days after the Goa assembly elections were declared, BJP is still mulling over the next Chief Minister's face. BJP top brass is holding discussions in New Delhi over the formation of government in the state but the BJP legislature party meeting to choose the chief minister is yet to be convened.
Amid all the discussions, the state's caretaker chief minister Pramod Sawant and his party colleague Vishwajit Rane together met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
The meeting took place on Saturday evening, Rane said.
Both Sawant and Rane are being seen as top contenders for the post of chief minister in the state. BJP sources confirmed that in the recent past, Rane had expressed his desire for the CM's post.
According to the party sources, Shah had asked Sawant and Rane to meet him together in New Delhi, mentioned a PTI report.
In the Goa Assembly polls, the BJP has won the majority by bagging 20 seats in the 40-member House. With two MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and three Independents extending their support to BJP, the saffron party appears to be in a comfortable position in the Assembly.
However, the BJP has not yet staked a claim to form a government in the state, which will be its third straight term. BJP's Goa unit chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade had told reporters earlier that the party will form the government after Holi celebrations.
"Both the leaders (Sawant and Rane) met Shah together and discussed various issues related to Goa," party sources said without elaborating, said the PTI report.
BJP president J P Nadda was also present during the meeting.
When contacted, Rane confirmed that he met Shah along with Sawant.
"The meeting was about various issues related to Goa," he said.
Even though the BJP's parliamentary board, the top decision-making body of the party, is yet to formally announce the name of the next Goa chief minister, BJP MLA Subhash Phal Desai on Saturday claimed that "there's no need for further discussion on the issue of the next Goa Chief Minister since Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Pramod Sawant will continue to lead the government in the state". Desai's comments came amidst speculation doing the rounds in the political circles that Sawant will again be the Chief Minister of Goa.
The party has appointed Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and L Murugan as the observer and co-observer, respectively, to oversee the selection of the chief minister and process to stake claim to form the next government.
On Wednesday, Sawant had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss about the formation of the next government. He was accompanied by BJP's Goa election in-charge Devendra Fadanavis, Goa desk in-charge C T Ravi, Tanavade and the party's state general secretary (organisation) Satish Dhone.