Who will be next Himachal Pradesh CM? BJP central observers to arrive in Shimla today

Shimla: BJP central observers Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar are scheduled to arrive in Shimla to set off the process for electing the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, days after party's landslide victory in the hill state.

According to reports, the two senior BJP leaders will hold discussions with the newly-elected party MLAs to elect the leader of the BJP legislative party.

In-charge of party affairs in the state, Mangal Pandey, would also arrive here today, state BJP vice-president Ganesh Dutt said yesterday.

The issue also came up during a meeting of the BJP parliamentary board yesterday which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah and other top members. 

The shocking defeat of the BJP's chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal from Sujanpur has opened up the race for the top post in Himachal Pradesh.

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and five-time MLA Jairam Thakur were being seen as front-runners for the chief minister's post.

Some other senior BJP lawmakers in the state, including Mohinder Singh, who won for a record seventh time, five-term MLA Rajiv Bindal, former state BJP chief Suresh Bharadwaj, and Krishan Kapoor, both elected for a fourth term, could also be considered, party sources said.

Among all top contenders, Jairam Thakur, who won from Seraj constituency by defeating Chet Ram of the Congress, is leading the race for next Himachal CM.

Thakur had earlier served as a cabinet minister in the BJP ministry in the hill state. 

He was the Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. He was elected to Himachal Pradesh Assembly from Mandi and had won his first election in the year of 1998.

Meanwhile, Jagat Prakash Nadda has been part of the Narendra Modi Cabinet since 2014 and is believed to be very close the PM and BJP chief Amit Shah.

His past association with the RSS - BJP's ideological mentor - is likely to work in his favour.

The BJP won 44, while the Congress won 21 seats in the elections to 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the results of which were declared on December 18.

(With ANI inputs)