CHANDIGARH: The suspense over the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh continues as the visit of BJP central observers to the state on Friday did not yield any consensus on new CM’s name.
The newly elected state MLAs are now waiting for the party’s parliamentary board to take a final call. All eyes are on BJP chief Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pick the new CM, a BJP leader said.Once a decision is taken, a meeting of all 44 newly elected MLAs will be convened and the CM’s name will be formally announced.
The central observers, Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar, along with state party in-charge Mangal Pandey, on Friday held a meeting with BJP and RSS leaders in Shimla.Party sources said they held consultations on the CM’s name with the core group at Peterhoff. They also met party MLAs individually to elicit their views. “We have listened to all concerned, including newly elected MLAs and MPs, and will give our report to party president Amit Shah,” Pandey said.
Several leaders, including former CM and Lok Sabha MP from Kangra Shanta Kumar, are said to be against making former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal the next CM. They are of the view that several among the elected MLAs were capable of leading the party and that electing a defeated leader would send a wrong signal. Dhumal lost the election from Sujanpur but his supporters are vociferously campaigning for naming him CM again.Five-timer MLA Jairam Thakur, who is close to RSS leadership, is emerging as the key face in the race for picking CM candidate. He held a meeting with Dhumal, said sources.