BJP yet to decide on Uttaranchal CM issue

Among the front-runners for the top post are Major General Bhuvan Chand Khanduri (retired), chief whip of the BJP in the Lok Sabha, UP Religious Affairs Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Rajya Sabha member Manohar Kant Dhayani aand Bhagat Singh Khoshiyari, chief of the Uttaranchal unit of the BJP.

There have been talks of persuading Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission K C Pant to take over as the first chief minister of the State. Pant belongs to the Kumoan region.

Nityanand Swami, chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council and a senior leader from Dehradun, had announced that he would be ready to shoulder any responsibility. Later, he announced he was not in the fray for chief ministership.

Khanduri too is being projected by his supporters as the future chief minister. He was a contender for a berth in the Union Council of Ministers but had to make way for Bacchi Singh Rawat, who hailed from Kumoan and had the backing of the Sangh Parivar.

Manohar Kant Dhayani, Rajya Sabha MP, has the support of the RSS. Khoshiyari too is a veteran RSS man. Not to be left behind, it was UP Religious Affairs Minister Nishank who was the first to announce that he is in the race. He said he would not mind the responsibility of chief ministership.

His arch-rival Matbar Singh Kandari, Minister for Uttaranchal Development, has been highlighting his qualities and pushing his case. It is believed that the party high command would find it difficult to decide the candidate unless K C Pant agrees to be the unanimous choice for the post.