Sitharaman: Himachal CM name to be declared in Delhi

SHIMLA: After going through a report to be submitted by central observers, the announcement about the chief ministerial candidate of the BJP in Himachal Pradesh would be made by the party’s central parliamentary board in Delhi. This was stated by two central observers Nirmala Sitaraman and Narender Tomar, who held closed door meetings with two contenders for the top post and also attended the meeting with members of the core group.
Raising of slogans by supporters of former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Seraj MLA Jai Ram Thakur, front runner for the chief ministerial post, led to tension for a while outside Hotel Peterhoff, Shimla, where the central observers had arrived on Thursday afternoon. Both had arrived at the hotel around 4pm and they held a meeting for around one-and-a-half hours with Thakur and Shimla MLA Suresh Bhardwaj, who is another contender for the top post.
After this, they attended the meeting of the BJP core group. Though some members of the core group could not reach but others who attended the meeting included Dhumal, state president Satpal Singh Satti, state organizational secretary Pawan Rana, BJP’s state incharge Mangal Pandey, Nahan MLA Rajeev Bindal and Mandi MP Ram Swaroop Sharma. Sources said that the remaining members of the core group would reach Shimla on Friday and central observers would also hold a meeting with them.
Right before the assembly elections the BJP had announced Dhumal as its chief ministerial face but Dhumal lost from Sujanpur. With the defeat of Dhumal, leadership crisis started in the BJP as there are many contenders for the top post, forcing BJP’s central leadership to go into a huddle and decide on a new face. Though the meeting of central observers has not been scheduled with the newly elected MLAs on Thursday but still many reached Peterhoff. Ramswaroop Sharma, MP, Pangal Pandey, Jai Ram Thakur and Suresh Bhardwaj were among those who attended the meeting.
Addressing party workers after the meeting, Nirmala said that they had taken the feedback and now the final decision on CM candidate would be taken by the party high command. Narender Tomar said that the discussion had been held with the workers and now the central parliamentary board would be informed about the feedback.