Vijay Rupani is tipped to continue as Gujarat Chief Minister while five-time MlA and a former State Minister Jairam Thakur is the front runner for the CM’s chair in Himachal Pradesh.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and party general secretary Saroj Pandey are to reach Ahmedabad as observers on December 22 for selecting the State legislature party leader who will be the Chief Minister. Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar have been deputed as observers for the selection of CM in Himachal Pradesh.
As in the case of Rupani in Gujarat, Prem Kumar Dhumal had been officially named as the CM candidate in Himachal Pradesh . But he lost by more than 3,000 votes to his one-time protégé and now arch-rival Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur. .
According to sources, Thakur could be tipped for the top post as he has “all the credentials” to fit the bill as the State CM. “He has been an organisational man throughout, a State president and a Minister,” they said.
“If he is picked as CM it would be in tune with party’s ‘thinking’ to promote new leaders,” sources said.
Considered a low-profile politician, Thakur,52, has been elected for 5th term to the State Assembly . He had served as a Cabinet Minister under Dhumal and held portfolios of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. He was State party president from 2007 to 2009 .
As supporters of Dhumal still hope that the ‘veteran’ leader could still make it to the top, Thakur has said, “He would do whatever the party decides and work for the development of the State.”
This time round, Thakur won from Seraj constituency (62 km South from the Capital Shimla) by defeating Chet Ram of Congress, winning by 11,254 votes, his biggest victory margin thus far.
The BJP lost three out of five seats in Hamirpur, the home district of the Dhumal family.
Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, a Brahmin, who also held ministerial portfolio under Dhumal had earlier denied that he was in the race for the CM post.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the performance of the State Government following BJP’s win in Gujarat, it is assumed that Rupani will get another chance to rule the State. Rupani took over Chief Minister on August 7, 2016, just 15 months before the Assembly polls. At that time pro-quota Patidar agitation led by Hardik Patel was at its peak and Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mevani had already emerged as OBC and SC leaders post Dalit flogging incidence in Una. If these were not enough, the Central Government’s two moves-demonetisation and GST- a section of the business community angry with the BJP.
In such adverse political situation all he required to do was damage control. Rupani utilised the organisational skills he had gained as Saurashtra-Kutch in-charge of BJP and successfully diluted effects of Patidar, OBC and Dalit agitations. He could also pacify protests of trading communities.
On personal front, he had challenge to retain his seat as Congress pitted a ‘moneybag’ Indranil Rajguru against him. Political analyst thought the Rajkot West constituency, which is traditional BJP bastion could, now be under threat. However, Rupani emerged victorious by a huge margin of nearly 54,000 votes.
“Though he belongs to Jain Bania community which is not even two per cent of Gujarat’s population, yet his ‘down-to-earth’ attitude made him acceptable across the communities. At a time when party’s strength in the House has gone below 100, it requires a leader who can carry everyone together ,” said a senior BJP leader in Ahmedabad.
Others names doing the rounds for the coveted include Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel who belong to OBC and Patidar communities respectively. In fact, Vala’s name surfaced after unconfirmed reports that his secretariat in Bengaluru suddenly cleared all pending files.
It was Vala who vacated one of the most secured Assembly constituencies in the State Rajkot West in 2002 February when Modi wanted to contest first ever election of his life. Although Modi was keen to contest from Ellisbridge seat in Ahmedabad but the late Haren Pandya refused to vacate his seat.
Names of former Finance Minister Saurabh Patel as well as Union Ministers Parashotam Rupala and Mansukh Mandavia are also doing the rounds.