K Chandrasekhar Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is set to retain chief minister’s office in Telangana while Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram will see new faces at the helm.
The fate of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is hanging in balance, with the ruling BJP and its main challenger Congress locked in a close contest. If the Congress manages to form the next government, Kamal Nath may be the first choice of the party high command rather than Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Raman Singh has stepped down as the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, where the Congress has routed the ruling BJP and is set to form government. T S Singhdeo may lead the government in Raipur, although Bhupesh Baghel, Charandas Mahant and Tamradwaj Sahu are also in the reckoning.
The Congress got a clear majority in Rajasthan, but it is still unclear whom the party would choose for the top office — young leader and party state unit chief Sachin Pilot or veteran and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot.
Zoramthanga of Mizo National Front is set to replace Congress’ Lal Thanhawla as Mizoram chief minister. MNF legislators chose the 84-year-old former chief minister as the leader of legislature party. He met Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan to stake claim to form the government.
(With inputs from Bhopal, Jaipur, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Raipur)