Vijay Rupani, Nitin Patel may continue; J P Nadda frontrunner in Himachal Pradesh

NEW DELHI: BJP is likely to maintain status quo and continue with Vijay Rupani as chief minister of Gujarat and Nitin Patel as his deputy, though a change is not ruled out after a few months.

BJP insiders said any change of guard in Gujarat after the narrow victory in the assembly elections would send a wrong message. The BJP Parliamentary Board appointed finance minister Arun Jaitley and general secretary Saroj Pandey as observers for the election of the legislature party leader. They two are likely to visit Gandhinagar later this week to complete the formalities.

BJP is mulling on making a Patidar the chief minister in the likely event of Rupani’s replacement later. The names of Union ministers Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandavia, both Patidars, are doing the rounds.

“The Patidar agitation took place despite a Patel (Anandiben) being the chief minister. It flared up as some of our state leaders wanted to spite Anandiben. The Patidar agitation was mishandled. Atrocities committed by the police even on Patels who were not participating in the protest cost us. The worst was the police firing that killed 14 protestors. Now we will have to think whether a Patel should be made the CM again,” a senior BJP leader said. The party is also wary of antagonising smaller OBC groups that supported it in the elections as they have been at the receiving end of Patel ‘oppression’ over the years.

The party is working on winning back Patidars and senior BJP leaders are holding talks with community leaders and offering them sops. It is also keeping an eye on Hardik Patel’s plans to begin the quota stir again in a few weeks. Having learnt from its mistakes, BJP does not wish to adopt a harsh stance this time and hope to deal with the agitation by utilizing the services of influential Patidars locally.

In Himachal, health minister JP Nadda continues to be the front runner for the CM post, according to BJP insiders. Though he is a Brahmin, his proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and his seniority in state politics may work to his advantage. If Nadda is made CM, Prem Kumar Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur, MP from Hamirpur, may be given a ministerial berth in the Union Cabinet.

Another leader in the race is Jairam Thakur. With the Rajput votebase in Himachal Pradesh more than Brahmins, Jairam Thakur stands a good chance. Modi and Shah are known for springing a surprise while choosing chief ministers in most states.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Nirmala Sitharaman have been made central observers and they will visit Shimla once the party brass takes a decision.