Lucknow: The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has begun a second and subtle round of wooing the minorities. The Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) has adopted some 700 families under its unique pension scheme that is being run in Varanasi, Gorakhpur and the Bundelkhand region.

Denying any RSS role in these pro-minority moves, Indresh Kumar, the "guide" of the MRM, says the organisation was being run by "nationalist and well-meaning Muslims who wanted their community to shun dogmas and become progressive in life".

He added that initiatives like the monthly pension scheme of Rs 500 per divorced woman were efforts to "bring light" to the otherwise dark and gloomy setting these women are forced to live in.

"Ye rajnaitik nahin, ek imandaar prayaas hai ki jo ye andhera phailaya hai usme roshni bhari jaye" (this is not political, it is an honest effort to bring some light in their lives), Indresh Kumar told IANS.

The MRM has also rolled out a free foodgrain scheme for Muslim families in Modi's Varanasi parliamentary constituency. This scheme initially targets 800 families in poor slum dwellings and would be taken further as and when our resources increase, an official informed.

, the presence of a large number of Muslim women buoyed the spirits of RSS mandarins who feel that the "outreach's response is more than a trickle now". Muslim women openly spoke of their support to Modi's anti-triple divorce move and also extended their support to the demand of a grand Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

At a convention at the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan auditorium this week, Shabana Azmi, a professor with the Arabic Culture Department at Lucknow University, told the crowd that Lord Rama was "one of the 1.24 lakh Nabis sent by Allah and that it was only natural that his grand temple be built at Ayodhya".

Insiders say the RSS has been trying to make inroads into segments that were not supporters so far -- and hopes that these efforts will fructify by the time of the next general election.

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New Delhi (PTI): The much-awaited decision about the new chief minister of Delhi will be made in the BJP legislature party meeting to be held at the party's Delhi unit office on Wednesday evening.

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

Preparations were complete for the legislature party meeting that is expected to begin around 7 pm at Delhi BJP office, the party leaders said.

The 48 BJP MLAs will choose the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly who will become the chief minister.

The meeting will be held in the presence of BJP's central observers, whose names are yet to be declared. The new chief minister after being chosen by the party MLAs will meet Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K 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.