Dhumal is BJP’s CM candidate

The move, however, has come as a big blow to former Union minister and veteran Kangra leader Shanta Kumar, who had emerged as a strong contender for the post because of the party’s sudden upswing in the politically sensitive Kangra belt. Kumar was also present in the meeting that took the vital decision. The party claimed that it was a unanimous choice and would help the party in avenging its 2003 defeat in the state.

But Dhumal, who pipped his own estranged mentor of the mid-1980s, has little backing in the Kangra belt and sources said this was going to prove dear for the saffon party.

Dhumal, a sitting Lok Sabha member who recently trounced the ruling Congress candidate in Hamirpur parliamentary byelection, had been the state’s Chief Minister during 1998-2003, when he formed the Government with the support of former Union Communication Minister Sukh Ram. The BJP lost the 2003 elections badly under Dhumal’s leadership but he has managed to bring the party back to the fighting spirit.

While celebrations started in Dhumal’s native village Samirpur in Hamirpur district immediately after the party announcement, Kangra—especially Palampur, which is Shanta Kumar’s hometown —wore a sombre look.

The Kangra belt has 16 Assembly seats out of which only five are with the BJP. Projection of Kumar as the CM candidate, sources said, would have helped the party to make a clean sweep here.

Reacting to the decision, Dhumal said he was very happy about the fact that the party had shown so much faith in him and that it would be his biggest strength and would help him immensely to lead from the front. “I am very confident that with Shanta Kumar’s help, the party will get a comfortable majority to form the next Government,” he said.