Goa, Manipur chief ministers meet PM

Goa and Manipur chief ministers Pramod Sawant and N Biren Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday amid indications that the BJP leadership is likely to put its faith again in them for leading the new government in their states following the party’s thumping win in the recent assembly polls.

After meeting Singh, Modi tweeted that he congratulated him on the party’s stupendous victory, asserting that it is committed to working even harder to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Manipur. ”Our party is grateful to the people of Goa for blessing us yet again with the mandate to serve the state. We will keep working for Goa’s progress in the times to come,” Modi said after meeting Sawant. Top BJP leaders, including Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, and party president J P Nadda, have held extensive parleys in the last few days, working out the broad outlines of the new governments in four states, including Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, ahead of the swearing-in ceremonies expected next week.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is set to head the new government, while the fate of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has come under question as he lost his seat even though the BJP romped home with over two-thirds majority.

Party sources said the deliberative exercise is aimed at ensuring that the new state governments send out a positive message about their governance agenda as well as social representation.

The BJP’s big win, especially in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, has given the party a leeway in picking a council of ministers which carry its governance stamp, even a touch of experiment.

The party has announced Shah and Singh as its central observers for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand respectively for its legislative party meetings to elect its new leader in both the states. Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar have been named observers for Manipur and Goa respectively.