BJP appoints Ravishankar Prasad, OP Dhankar as observers for Delhi legislative meeting

New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday appointed Ravishankar Prasad and OP Dhankar as the observers for the legislature party meeting to be held at the party's Delhi unit office.

At the legislature party meeting that is expected to begin around 7 pm at Delhi BJP office, the 48 MLAs of the saffron party will chose the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly who will become the chief minister.

The BJP has come to power after 26 years, defeating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls.

The new chief minister after being chosen by the party MLAs will meet Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at the Raj Niwas to stake claim to power.

Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing for a grand swearing-in ceremony of the new government at Ramleela Ground on Thursday afternoon.

Around 50,000 people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues and the chief minister of NDA ruled states among other guests, will attend the ceremony.

The names doing the rounds for the new chief minister include Parvesh Verma, who defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal; former Delhi BJP presidents Vijender Gupta and Satish Upadhyay; and other leaders such as Pawan Sharma, Ashish Sood, Rekha Gupta and Shikha Rai.

The names of Ravinder Indraj Singh, the MLA from Bawana (SC) seat, and Kailash Gangwal, who won the Madipur (SC) seat for the BJP for the first time, are also being discussed.

Many within the party believe that the BJP leadership could choose a "dark horse" as Delhi's next chief minister, a strategy the party opted for in Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.