BJP is most unlikely to go for any chief ministerial face for the Assembly election of the State under the present circumstances, given the fact that the political equations have undergone a sea change in the aftermath of the demonetisation drive.

Speculations swirled in the State BJP circles after the national party president Amit Shah while flagging off the Parivartan Yatra in Dehradun on November 13 had given a special treatment to the party’s veteran and  former Chief Minister Maj Gen Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri who is also an MP from Garhwal. Shah had pulled him in the front row from the second row where he was seated, raising eyebrows over its political implication.

However, the party  insiders now say that there is no compulsion for the top brass to showcase any particular face in view of the political scenario having sharply polarised in the aftermath of the momentous move of the Narendra Modi Government.

The insiders say that the common people rallying behind the PM, the party’s State satraps who were prone to squabble among themselves while eying the CM chair have mellowed down considerably. “They are feeling insecure. They know that the money recall drive in a single stroke has reduced them to nonentities. The issue of demonetization would reign supreme across the political horizon of the state, polarizing the electorate either in favour of or against it.  Realizing the reality, the voluble leaders are claiming to be   none more than loyal  party workers, ready to serve in any capacity the party deems right,” said a state BJP insider.

But for the demonetization-triggered polarization, things would have proved indeed tough for the State BJP with as many as five satraps being in the race for the coveted chair of the Chief Minister. They are former CMs-Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Gen Khanduri, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Vijay Bahuguna aside from the  redoubtable  Satpal Maharaj.

“Aware of the factional bickering with the leaders pulling  the party in mutually antagonistic directions, Amit Shah sounded annoyed while he was in the State. He made it clear to the squabbling leaders that the party set more store by the ideological cohesion rather than by the mere winnability of the leaders,” said a state BJP watcher.  

Now, there is no pressing need too to showcase a credible face of the state. The party leadership is convinced that they would ride piggyback of the people’s support behind the PM’s historic move to win the election hands down.