After Amit Shah's statement on Thursday that he has left the responsibility to Keshav Prasad Maurya to decide Uttar Pradesh's (UP) Chief Minister, speculations have been rife that Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Telecom, may head Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.
According to sources, newly-elected legislators of BJP will meet in Lucknow on Saturday to elect the new CM. Party's central observers - Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav - will be present at the meeting on Saturday, UP BJP General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.
Apart from Sinha, there was a conjecture that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh would be appointed to the top post in the state. However, according to reports, Singh's experience would be required in Delhi more than UP. Also, Singh has refused being in the race.
The 57-year-old Ghazipur MP, is an upper caste Bhumihar from Poorvanchal. Bhumihar caste constitutes around 1-2% of the total population of the state. Sinha is considered close to party chief Amit Shah, and has a clean record. He is a Banaras Hindu University (BHU) passout, and has been an agriculturist. He began his political career with ABVP.
BJP won three-fourth majority in the 403-member House, and will be returning to power in UP after 14 years. It has 325 seats, including its allies, in the 17th Vidhan Sabha.
(With PTI inputs)
