Page 22 - AUG2018E

photo: pradeep kumar
Himachal to see major

reshuffle in state BJP unit

With few months left for the parliamentary elections in the country, most powerful as he enjoys the support
indications are there of changes in appointments among the party of party chief Amit Shah and prime min-
ister Modi. However, if one talks about
members and government in Himachal, writes rakesh rocky the strength on the ground, former
chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal is
he state BJP will soon choose a more than two terms,’’ he added. the most influential leader. Despite los-
new state chief as the second The problem in front of the party ing previous assembly election he held a
term of Satpal Satti is ending leadership is that after September they larger chunk of voters. He is considered
in September. Though BJP had will have only six months before the par- to be the most powerful Rajput leader in
T won December 2017 assembly liamentary elections. Insiders say that state BJP.
polls with thumping majority (44 seats), party may appoint an ad-hoc president Many in the party feel that giving re-
there are talks among the party leaders or may extend the term of Satti for few sponsibility to Dhumal will increase the
and workers in the state about the per- more months. Many in the party feel that possibilities of BJP performance in the
formance of Jai Ram Thakur government. a senior and influential leader should Lok Sabha polls. On the condition of ano-
Sources told the Tehelka that the chief be given command of state chief so that nymity, a senior BJP leader said, ‘’If Dhu-
minister may adjust few of the leaders party could perform well in the coming mal is given bigger responsibility in any
and MLAs in various boards and corpo- Lok Sabha polls. shape, this will also help in covering the
rations to end the unrest among them. It is important to mention here that alleged weaknesses of BJP government
Party president Amit Shah is expected BJP had won all the four Lok Sabha seats in the state’’. He is need of the party be-
to visit Himachal soon. State BJP in- in 2014 and popularity of Prime Minister fore the parliamentary polls, he added.
charge Mangal Pandey has already vis- Narendra Modi had played a major role Interestingly, Dhumal has visited Del-
ited Shimla and held meetings with top in that. However, things have changed hi for more than two times in the recent
BJP brass and other senior functionaries now and few political observers feel that days. Party leaders are curious about his
along with the chief minister. A senior Modi’s popularity alone will not be able visits to Delhi. Though a bigger chunk of
BJP leader told Tehelka that the party has to give BJP that success in 2019 general the party is supporting a pro-active role
to replace Satti as he has completed two elections. of Dhumal in the state, it is said that for-
terms as state president. “We won assem- The problem in the party is that there mer chief minister Shanta Kumar’s camp
bly elections under his leadership, how- are at least four power centres in the is opposite to this opinion. It is pertinent
ever according to the party constitution state BJP. Union Health Minister Jagat to mention that Shanta and Dhumal
one can not hold state president post for Prakash Nadda is considered to be the camps are considered like north and

tehelka / 31 august 2018 22 www.tehelka.com