JP Nadda, Thakur favourites as BJP looks for CM in HP

Union minister JP Nadda and five-time legislator Jairam Thakur have emerged as frontrunners to be the next chief minister of Himachal Pradesh after Monday’s shock defeat of Bharatiya Janata Party’s projected CM candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal.

The BJP wrested power from the Congress, winning 44 seats in the 68-member assembly. But the party was scrambling on Tuesday to pick a new CM as the 73-year-old Dhumal lost to Rajinder Singh Rana, a former protégé who had joined the Congress.

Though party sources say Dhumal is not out of the running, his defeat has thrown open the leadership race and brought the spotlight on Union health minister Nadda, a Rajya Sabha member with roots in the hill state.

Nadda’s proximity to the party leadership is viewed as a plus point for him, though several leaders believe that the BJP top brass will choose the CM from among its newly elected MLAs.

Thakur and several senior BJP lawmakers in the state are also in the reckoning. A former rural development and panchayati raj minister in the state, 52-year-old Thakur and is known to be close to the RSS and to BJP president Amit Shah. “Whatever the party decides, I will do. I am happy that there is going to be a BJP government in Himachal Pradesh,” Thakur said on Tuesday.

Sources said his case becomes strong because the party may opt for a Thakur leader, the state’s dominant community. Nadda is a Brahmin. The BJP has also been known to choose not-so-obvious candidates as chief minister in some other states. If that trend holds true, RSS pracharak Ajay Jamwal could emerge as the party’s choice.

The newly elected BJP legislators and central leaders are expected to meet in Shimla to elect their leader, who would be sworn in as the chief minister. One of them, Dhumal loyalist Virender Kunwar has offered to vacate his seat for the former chief minister if he is nominated as the chief minister.

The BJP leadership has appointed defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union minister Narender Singh Tomar to oversee the selection process.

“It a great victory for party, and central leaders will hold consultations before the party legislators meet to elect a new leader,” state party chief Satpal Singh Satti, who lost as well.

The other names doing the rounds include Mohinder Singh, who won for a seventh time, fiveterm legislator Rajiv Bindal, and former state BJP chief Suresh Bharadwaj and Krishan Kapoor, both elected to fourth terms.

DHUMAL IS NOT OUT OF THE RUNNING, BUT HIS DEFEAT HAS THROWN OPEN THE LEADERSHIP RACE AND BROUGHT THE SPOTLIGHT ON NADDA

JAIRAM THAKUR

Started out as a student leader in the ABVP and remained its secretary till 1986

In 1993, became the state president of BJP’s youth wing, Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the saffron party

First elected to the state legislative assembly in 1998 from Chachiot assembly segment of Mandi district

Served as state chief of BJP from 2006 to 2009 and became a part of the state cabinet as rural development and panchayati raj minister in 2009 Credited with striking a balance between two warring factions headed by former CMs Prem Kumar Dhumal and Shanta Kumar

JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA

Began political career as a student leader in 1975 after joining the Sampurna Kranti movement started by Jayaprakash Narayan against Indira Gandhi Entered state politics in 1993 by winning assembly election from his home-town Bilaspur; appointed leader of opposition

Re-elected in 1998 and made a cabinet minister in Prem Kumar Dhumal-led BJP government. Distanced himself from state politics after a fallout with Dhumal. Appointed BJP’s national general secretary, and elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2012 Considered close to BJP president Amit Shah, he was inducted as health minister in Narender Modi-led government in 20014