DUO STAYS PUT Hiccups in Himachal BJP

While Vijay Rupani will continue as chief minister of Gujarat and Nitin Patel will remain his deputy, a decision in Himachal continues to elude the BJP leadership.

In fact, both the central observers – Union Ministers Nirmala Seetharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar – drew a blank on Friday after their inconclusive talks with senior party leaders. The observers avoided meeting media persons and left without giving any hint about the name of the next CM.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda and five times MLA Jai Ram Thakur are the front runners for the post. The leadership issue cropped up following the shocking defeat of the BJP's chief ministerial face Prem Kumar Dhumal.

It is understood that Dhumal is not ready to relinquish his claim to chief ministership; he has at least half the MLAs backing him in his quest. Dhumal's son Anurag Thakur also did not turn up for the meeting today.

The other contender for the post, Jai Ram Thakur, is much fancied by the other camp. The two factions had staged a show of strength on Thursday. A similar attempt to showcase their respective strength was made on Friday but the entire exercise was marred by slogan shouting.

Though Dhumal's candidature had weakened after he lost the Sujanpur Assembly election, his sizeable support has become an irritant. Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda is also believed to be in the race. His wife Mallika Nadda had also met BJP MLAs before heading to New Delhi.