Raghubar Das to be next Jharkhand Chief Minister, announcement shortly
Raghubar Das, a former deputy chief minister and a party vice-president, is being touted as the front-runner for the top job.
The BJP's lawmakers in Jharkhand will meet in Ranchi on Friday to elect their new chief minister after the party and its ally, the All Jharkhand Students' Union, won the state polls.
Raghubar Das, a former deputy chief minister and a party vice-president, has been elected for the top job, sources said. Das would be the first non-tribal person to the Chief Minister of the state. The BJP itself has had two tribal chief ministers in the past -Babulal Marandi and Arjun Munda.
Two senior BJP leaders, Health Minister JP Nadda and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, will be the observers at the legislature party meeting to oversee the election of the new chief minister.
"The party's Parliamentary Board and the honorable Prime Minister will take a decision on this. But I wish to assure the people of Jharkhand and Jamshedpur that I would always be there to serve them," Das said soon after it emerged that the BJP-led coalition had won the assembly elections.
Jharkhand has had nine governments and three stints of President's Rule since it was created in 2000.