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Vijaya Pushkarna
Vijaya Pushkarna

ASSEMBLY POLLS

BJP on headhunt for CM as top leaders lose in Himachal

PTI12_19_2017_000112B Senior BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal with his family members after losing election for the Sujanpur assembly seat | PTI

Intense lobbying has begun in Shimla for the post of chief minister of the hill state, where Prem Kumar Dhumal, the chief ministerial candidate of the victorious Bharatiya Janata Party, lost the elections from his constituency.

The BJP on Tuesday appointed Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and minister for rural development Narendra Singh Tomar as observors to talk to the elected legislators and select a leader—chief minister—acceptable to all. Tomorrow they are expected to reach Shimla which is all dressed up for Christmas over the weekend.

All the newly elected MLAs of the BJP have also begun to reach Shima. Jairam Thakur, the front runner, not only reached the party office in the state capital, but also held a meeting with his supporters.

The defeat of its chief ministerial candidate, Prem Kumar Dhumal , revived the question of who will be “the leader of the house” and chief minister of the hill state, amidst claims and counterclaims that Dhumal had been fielded to lose by wily party president Amit Shah who may have had other designs. 

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who won his seat Arki, tendered his resignation. 

Though the name of Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda continued to do the rounds, BJP sources in Shimla suggest that the top job could go to Jai Ram Thakur, fifth time representative of Seraj constituency in the Mandi district. A former president of the BJP's state unit, Thakur has been member of the Dhumal cabinet, holding charge of rural development and panchayati raj in the past. He is said to be a nominee of the RSS as well. 

Dhumal's son, Anurag Thakur, MP from Hamirpur, is also being mentioned in the BJP headquarters at the capital as a possible face, though it seems highly unlikely the party will want a byelection in that constituency soon. 

In fact, it is not only Dhumal who has lost. Many of the senior leaders like Satpal Singh Satti, Ravinder Ravi, Gulab Singh Thakur and Randhir Sharma lost the elections. 

Dhumal drums support for himself

If Arun Jaitley can be made finance minister of India even though he lost the parliamentary elections from Amritsar in 2014, why can't Dhumal be made chief minister of Himachal Pradesh after losing elections from the  Sujanpur? 

That is the question his supporters among the 44 newly elected legislators are said to be asking each other as Dhumal is believed to be  drumming up support for himself, for the post he has held twice in the past.

Dhumal was made the chief ministerial candidate rather late into the elections and it is believed by some that BJP president Amit Shah was not keen on it. He conceded and named Dhumal the CM face fearing division in the state legislature if they win.

Dhumal's supporters are believed to be lobbying for him while sources suggest they could be the majority in the group of 44.

However, a BJP leader in the national capital, on condition of anonymity, ruled out the possibility of Dhumal being treated like Jaitely on three grounds—age which is not in favour of Dhumal, the need to give the next generation a chance, and most of all, the fact that Shah has brought surprise candidates in Haryana when Manohar Lal Khattar was made chief minister, or more recently, Yogi Aditya Nath in Uttar Pradesh.

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