(Image source from: Hindustantimes.com)

According to party insiders, the identity of Delhi's new Chief Minister, marking the Bharatiya Janata Party's first leadership in the national capital in almost thirty years, will be revealed by this evening, as reported by NDTV on Wednesday morning. The process to choose the leader commenced at noon, when the BJP's Parliamentary Board, which serves as its top decision-making entity, convened to appoint former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and National Secretary Om Prakash Dhankar as 'observers' for the assembly of newly-elected MLAs scheduled for later today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose travel commitments to France and the United States postponed the decision-making process, was also present at that meeting. The BJP's MLAs are set to gather at 6:15 PM, with Mr. Prasad and Mr. Dhankar in attendance, to elect their leader, who will then assume the role of Chief Minister. The inauguration of the new Chief Minister will take place during a ceremonial event at 11 AM on Thursday. This oath-taking ceremony is planned to occur at the famed Ramlila Maidan and will last from 11 AM until 12:34 PM, with the actual oath-taking scheduled for 12:05 PM.

Additionally, sources indicated that there will be three distinct sections established for the event: the first will accommodate the Prime Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, and the new Chief Minister; the second will be designated for invited religious figures; and the third will be reserved for Members of Parliament and MLAs, with over 200 invites sent to those from the BJP and its allies. The outgoing Chief Minister, Atishi, as well as AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and Devender Yadav, who heads the Congress party's Delhi division, have also received invitations. Last week, it was reported that a shortlist of 15 candidates had been created from the 48 BJP MLAs to fulfill the positions of Chief Minister, their cabinet members, and the Assembly Speaker. Leading the list of potential candidates for the Chief Minister role is two-time former MP Parvesh Verma, who triumphed over Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency. Other possible contenders for the BJP's leadership position include Delhi unit head Virendra Sachdeva and Bansuri Swaraj, a first-term MP and the daughter of the late former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj. Also in consideration is Satish Upadhyay, recognized as the BJP's Brahmin representative in Delhi.

There has been considerable discussion about the possibility of the BJP selecting a female candidate for the position of Chief Minister. Among the newly elected MLAs from the BJP, four are women: Neelam Pahalwan, Rekha Gupta, Poonam Sharma, and Shikha Roy. Ms. Pahalwan made history as the first female MLA elected from the Najafgarh constituency, while Ms. Gupta previously served as the President of the Delhi University Students' Union. Ms. Sharma secured victory in the Wazirpur constituency, and Ms. Roy made headlines by defeating senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj in the Greater Kailash constituency. Additionally, the BJP has a history of considering caste dynamics in its Chief Minister selection process, as evidenced by past delays in appointing leaders following wins in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in 2023. Four of the newly elected MLAs belong to Scheduled Castes: Raj Kumar Chauhan from Mangolpuri, Ravikant Ujjain from Trilokpuri, Ravinder Indraj Singh from Bawana, and Kailash Gangwal from Madipur.

Anticipation regarding Delhi's next Chief Minister began to rise on the afternoon of February 8, when it became clear that the BJP had orchestrated an impressive comeback in Delhi's political arena. After being out of power for 26 years, initially due to the Congress and later the AAP, the BJP captured 48 out of the 70 Assembly seats in this election. For context, in the previous two elections held in Delhi, the party won a total of just 11 seats. The AAP, which aimed for a third consecutive term, faced challenges as allegations against party leader Arvind Kejriwal concerning the ‘sheeshmahal’ and liquor excise policy scandals impacted its standing, resulting in only 22 seats being secured. To provide further context, AAP had previously dominated the 2015 and 2020 elections, winning 67 and 62 seats respectively. Meanwhile, the Congress faced defeat for the third time in a row.