BJP may announce Himachal Pradesh CM today, Nadda in race

The suspense over the next Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh may end on Sunday when the BJP Legislative Party meets and may announce a name.

Five-term MLA Jairam Thakur and Union minister J P Nadda are the frontrunners for the chief minister's office.

The two central observers defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar are scheduled to visit the state capital on Sunday along with party's in-charge for Himachal affairs, Mangal Pandey.

A lack of consensus among the newly elected MLAs had resulted in the two central observers returning to Delhi from Shimla on Friday to hold fresh consultation with the central leadership.

Although Thakur was seen a frontrunner for the job till recently, Nadda may emerge as the most acceptable candidate in this changed scenario, a BJP source said.

"There is speculation in media that I am in race for the post of the chief minister. I had made it clear on the day of the result that I am not in any race," Dhumal said.

A meeting of BJP MLAs has been convened on Sunday and they would be addressed by the central observers, the party's state unit chief Satpal Singh Satti said today in Shimla.

The two-member team of central observers, which was in the state on December 21 and 22, had taken feedback from members of the state BJP's core committee, MPs and some MLAs.

The leadership issue cropped up following the shocking defeat of Dhumal. He who was defeated from Sujanpur by Rajinder Rana of the Congress.

The BJP ousted the Congress from power by winning 44 of the 68 seats in fray.

OneIndia News (with agency inputs)