Can Rupani stay on? Race begins for CM post in Himachal too
NEW DELHI: With the verdict in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections tilted against the BJP’s chief ministerial candidates, the party may be forced to search for new faces in both the states. While incumbent Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s position has become uncomfortable after the party’s reduced victory margin, Prem Kumar Dhumal’s defeat in Himachal opened up opportunities for other aspirants in the State. Dhumal was specifically named by party president Amit Shah as the chief ministerial candidate in the run up to the elections.
Though a protege of Amit Shah, Rupani is widely seen as the weakest link partly because he does not belong to an electorally strong community. “Since youth leaders palying the caste card helped the Congress put up a strong contest, it’s natural that the party may revisit the leadership question,”said a top BJP functionary.
“Rupani is a soft spoken person who had been the State unit party chief earlier. But the BJP may have to look for a Patel leader since the caste commands 18 per cent vote share, besides being a traditional party support base,” added the BJP functionary. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel is seen as a political rival of Rupani. Union minister Parsottam Rupala is another Patel contender for the throne.
With Dhumal’s fate sealed in Sujanpur, the field for leadership change is wide open. Insiders claim Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants a relatively young face who could lead the State for another two decades. “Union Minister J P Nadda and the senior party functionary Ajay Jamwal, who has an RSS pedigree, could be the probable candidates,”sources said. Nadda is known to be a close confidante of Shah. Jamwal on the other hand is considered to be a strong organisational hand. He’s currently looking after the affairs of the North-eastern states. He has in the past worked in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
Challengers Rupala, Patel
Rupani (pic) became Gujarat CM at a difficult time when the Patidar agitation had peaked. Though he has Amit Shah’s support, he does not hail from a electorally strong community. In the race for CM post are Dy CM Nitin Patel and Union minister Rupala
Field wide open as Dhumal loses
With CM candidate in Himachal Prem Kumar Dhumal (pic) losing from Sujanpur by 1919 votes, Union Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and senior party functionary Ajay Jamwal, who has an RSS pedigree, could fancy their chances for leading the new govt