Close to a year after the INDIA bloc’s show of strength at Ramlila Maidan before the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is looking at projecting the oath-taking ceremony of Delhi’s new Chief Minister and council of ministers — at the same venue — as a joint front of the BJP-led NDA. According to sources, apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Ministers of NDA-ruled states, central cabinet ministers, and popular MPs are among the invitees and are likely to attend.
Among the special invitees for the event, where over 25,000 to 30,000 are expected to be in attendance, are community leaders from across the slum clusters in the Capital, said sources in the BJP. “Special invitees include community leaders from across Delhi’s slum clusters to honour the contribution of citizens from JJ colonies in bringing the party back to power in the Capital after almost three decades,” a party leader said.
Bollywood celebrities are also among those invited.
The swearing-in ceremony may be themed along the lines of the Ram Mandir consecration in Ayodhya last year and prominent members of the Hindu seer community will likely register their presence, said people privy to the details.
Starting early Wednesday, party insiders said, hectic developments linked to the event are expected to unfold.
The party’s national leadership is likely to announce the names of at least two senior members — including union ministers or chief ministers of BJP-ruled states or senior organisational leaders — as observers, sources said. This would be followed by a meeting of the legislature party, comprising its 48 MLAs, around 7 pm Wednesday where the names of the Chief Minister, six members of the council of ministers as well as those chosen for other significant roles such as that of the Speaker would be revealed.
“The observers are likely to be announced by late night today or by early tomorrow; while the final names will be revealed tomorrow, the allocation of portfolios among the members of the Cabinet is likely to take a few more days,” a senior BJP leader said on Tuesday.
Discussions in the party regarding the incoming government are said to have continued to veer around the possibility of a woman CM as well as the inclusion of “young” leaders from each of the capital’s significant communities. Incoming legislators from Assembly constituencies in the countryside as well as seats reserved for the SC community are also being considered frontrunners for cabinet berths. “The emphasis is likely to be on ensuring as much of a balance between youth and experience as it is likely to be on balancing the caste-community equation,” a party source said.
