A crucial meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary board will take place on Thursday, and the meet is likely to decide on the new chief ministers for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

The high-level BJP meeting will be held days after the saffron party won assembly election in the three states of Hindi heartland on December 3. The BJP ousted Congress from power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, while it ducked anti-incumbency to retain power in Madhya Pradesh.

These three states together send 65 MPs to the Lok Sabha, and the poll win is a booster to the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections scheduled next year.

Earlier in the day, 10 BJP MPs including two Union ministers who won assembly elections, resigned from the Lok Sabha. These 10 MPs tendered their resignations after calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief JP Nadda.

Madhya Pradesh

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP swept the elections by winning 163 out of 230 seats. Amid speculations about the next chief minister, incumbent CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said he was never a CM contender. “Neither was I the CM contender earlier nor now. I am just a party worker and whatever post or duty the party will give I will fulfil that,” he said.

The names of key BJP leaders including Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Singh Patel as well as party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya are doing rounds for the top post.

Rajasthan

The BJP ousted the Congress from power in Rajasthan, winning 115 out of 199 seats that went to polls. Following the victory, hectic parleys are being held in Jaipur and Delhi to decide the new chief minister.

Some of the prominent faces of the party, including two-time CM Vasundhara Raje; Diya Kumari, who secured victory from the Vidhyadhar Nagar constituency; and Mahant Balak Nath, who won from the Tijara constituency; and Rajyavarardhan Singh Rathore, who won from the Jhotwara constituency, are among the top contenders.

Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh, that witnessed a Congress sweep five years ago, witnessed a change of guard in this election. The BJP returned to power by winning 54 out of 90 seats, reducing the grand old party to 35.

Several names including Raman Singh, Arun Sao, OP Chaudhary and Gomti Sai among others are doing rounds for the top job.