The oath-taking ceremony for the new Delhi Chief Minister is anticipated to occur on February 18. The BJP will form the government in Delhi for the first time in nearly three decades, following a dominant performance in the recent assembly elections where it secured 48 of the 70 seats.
Sources have indicated that the BJP plans to convene a meeting of its MLAs to finalise the name of the Chief Minister, although this meeting, initially scheduled for Monday, has been postponed with a new date yet to be announced.
Among the prominent contenders for the Chief Minister position are Parvesh Verma and Rekha Gupta. Party insiders hint at the possibility of a woman or a fresh face being appointed to the role, with Shikha Roy emerging as a notable candidate after her victory over AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj in Greater Kailash.
Ashish Sood, the Delhi BJP general secretary known for his close ties with central leaders; Rekha Gupta, a prominent woman face; Vijender Gupta, a senior BJP leader and former Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly; Satish Upadhyay, a prominent Brahmin leader and former state president; and Jitendra Mahajan, a strong RSS representative from the Vaishya community, are also among the top contenders.
The party has shortlisted 15 MLAs for key ministerial roles, and sources have suggested that the new government may not include a Deputy Chief Minister.
High-level discussions are ongoing within the BJP, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP President JP Nadda playing pivotal roles to finalise the Delhi CM.
This follows the BJP's successful campaign to wrest control from the AAP, which had governed Delhi for over a decade but managed to secure only 22 seats in the recent elections.