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Himachal Pradesh: BJP likely to get new president before year-end
The front runners for the post are Trilok Jamwal of Bilaspur, who is political advisor to CM, Randhir Sharma of Bilaspur, who is chief spokesperson of Himachal BJP and a former two-term legislator and Ram Singh Kripal Parmar from Kullu, who is the party general secretary
The Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will likely get a new president by December 27, when the Jai Ram Thakur-led state government completes two years in office.
Even as several leaders are lobbying for the top post, the party high command is keen to build a consensus on a single name, party sources say.
The process of BJP organisational election in the state began on September 11 and was supposed to be completed by December 15. Although the party has completed the election process for most districts and block units, the deadline for the election of state president was extended to December 20.
However, this may get delayed even further as the party’s national leadership is busy with Jharkhand assembly polls, results for which will be declared on December 23.
“It is highly likely that the new president face will be picked by a national working president JP Nadda. Although, efforts are on to have a consensus candidate,” said a senior party leader.
It is learnt that outgoing state president Satpal Singh Satti met the CM and state organising secretary Pawan Rana last week at Dharamshala to discuss the electing of the new president.
Among the front runners for the post are Trilok Jamwal and Randhir Sharma, both of whom belong to Bilaspur, the home district of Nadda.
Sharma is a former two-term legislator and currently the chief spokesperson of Himachal BJP, while Jamwal is currently the political advisor to CM Jai Ram Thakur.
A close confidante of Nadda, Jamwal had played a crucial role in 2019 Lok Sabha elections wherein BJP secured 72% votes and drubbed the Congress in all four seats–Mandi, Hamirpur, Kangra and Shimla.
Some other names doing the round for the post include Ram Singh Kripal Parmar, who is the party general secretary and hails from Kullu. He was vying for a ticket for 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections, but BJP preferred former legislator Maheshwar Singh, the scion of the Kullu royal family over him.
Parmar is a former Rajya Sabha MP and hails from the politically significant Kangra district.
Meanwhile, Satti said the organisational elections of 73 mandals have been completed and by December 20, elections of all mandals and district executives will be complete. “A meeting of the party’s core committee will be held on December 18 and 19, in which national leaders will consult state leaders on choosing the new president,” he said.
“The core group will hold its meeting in the presence of national BJP general secretary Murlidhar Rao and national secretary Sunil Devdhar to discuss the names of contenders,” Satti said.
