Nadda: Jai Ram Thakur to lead Himachal Pradesh battle

SHIMLA: Amid speculation over a change of guard in Himachal Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president J P Nadda on Sunday said Jai Ram Thakur will continue to remain as chief minister and the upcoming elections will be fought under his leadership.

“Jai Ram Thakur is doing good work and he will continue with it in future. He will not be replaced and the BJP will contest the assembly elections under his leadership,” Nadda told reporters here.

The BJP chief’s statement was in response to Delhi deputy chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia’s claim that the saffron party was considering replacing Jai Ram Thakur with Union minister Anurag Thakur.

“We have learnt from very reliable sources that the BJP wants to replace chief minister Jai Ram Thakur with Anurag Thakur as it is scared of the popularity of Arvind Kejriwal and his model of governance in Delhi,” Sisodia had said on Friday. Both Jai Ram Thakur and Anurag Thakur had dismissed the AAP leader’s claim.

“AAP had unravelled BJP’s plan to change the leadership in Himachal. The BJP changed its plan as we had exposed it,” AAP spokesman Gaurav Sharma said.

Besides the leadership, Nadda also ruled out the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle ahead of the elections. However, 10 to 15 per cent of sitting BJP MLAs may not get tickets in the elections.

“10 to 15 per cent of sitting BJP MLAs might not get tickets in the elections. 10 to 15 per cent of BJP MLAs did not get access in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, and it is likely to happen here, too,” he said. He also exuded confidence over the party’s win in the polls. “We will form the government in the state once again,” he said. On the alleged dissent in the party, he said: “We are looking into it.”