Getting mandate in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly polls without naming a chief ministerial candidate, the BJP could go for elections in Himachal Pradesh too without a CM face.
BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday said that the party leadership was yet to decide whether a CM candidate would be announced or not before the elections in the hill State.
He made it clear that declaration of a CM candidate was not necessary for success but putting in a united effort was.
Addressing a press conference in Palampur on Wednesday, Shah claimed that the BJP will get three-fourth majority in the hill State as the people were fed up with the mis-governance under Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.
Talking on the preparations of the BJP for the Assembly elections in the State, slated to be held at the end of this year, Shah said that the party was fully prepared to face elections any time and it will replicate its success in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in Himachal Pradesh.
Reaching Palampur, Shah had a meeting with the core group of the State BJP. He took stock of the ground situation on the political front in the State. BJP State president Satpal Singh Satti, Union Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal and Shanta Kumar and MPs of the party were present at the meeting.
Training his guns on the Chief Minister, Shah said that Virbhadra Singh was perhaps the first Chief Minister in the country who had been sticking to his chair despite facing such serious allegations.
Rebutting the allegations of vendetta in the cases of disproportionate assets and corruption against Virbhadra Singh, Amit Shah said that the cases against the him had started during the tenure of the UPA and the action was being taken by the investigating agencies concerned.
Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the hill State to overview the poll preparations of the party, took a series of meetings with leaders of the party. The visit is significant as the party is now expected to start taking calls on the prospective candidates for the Assembly elections.
The BJP president though did not clear the air on the next CM candidate from the party, but his proximity to Union Health Minister JP Nadda appeared ostensible as he took Nadda in his car after landing at Kangra airport.
Earlier, Shah was extended a warm welcome by senior leaders like former Chief Minister and leader of Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal, former CM Shanta Kumar and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur, amongst others.