Uncertainty is still prevailing over the next Chief Minister of Uttarakhand after Pushkar Singh Dhami lost assembly elections. Days after the declaration of poll results, the BJP is still trying to find a suitable formula to select the new Chief Minister of the hill state.
Sources said that despite winning two third majority, the BJP is in a peculiar situation after Dhami lost from Khatima as there are different opinions within the party over giving him another chance, while some are supporting second chance for him, many are saying it will set a wrong precedent which party always opposed.
"A section in the party feels that making a leader Chief Minister who lost the polls will be against the BJP's practice and it must be avoided this time also. We have questioned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after she lost from Nandigram in last year's state assembly polls. In 2017, the party did not make Prem Kumar Dhumal the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh after he lost the election," a party leader said.
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Another section in the party believes that Dhami should be given a chance for his hard work he put in to ensure BJP's victory. "After several rounds of informal consultation in the state capital, more meetings are likely to take place in the national capital. It is learnt that the key agenda of the meeting will be to decide criteria for selection of a new Chief Minister."
Apart from the Dhami's fate, there are other issues like caste and region to be addressed before finalizing the name of the new chief minister. The party leadership has to take a call on whether new chief minister will be from Garhwal or Kumaon and also whether he or she will be Thakur or Brahmin," a party insider said.
Another critical issue is to decide where the new Chief Minister is an MLA or from outside (non MLA). Several names have started doing the rounds in the Uttarakhand political circle. Some prominent ones are minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt, former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni among non MLAs.
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Among MLAs, names of Satpal Singh Maharaj and Dhan Singh Rawat are doing the rounds in political circles.
The BJP has retained power for a second term in Uttarakhand by winning 47 seats out of 70 but the incumbent chief minister Dhami lost the poll from Khatima.
