{"id":34620,"date":"2017-12-22T18:30:46","date_gmt":"2017-12-22T13:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/?p=34620"},"modified":"2017-12-22T18:31:45","modified_gmt":"2017-12-22T13:01:45","slug":"vijay-rupani-to-continue-as-gujarat-cm-hiamchal-cm-yet-to-be-decided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/latest-news\/vijay-rupani-to-continue-as-gujarat-cm-hiamchal-cm-yet-to-be-decided\/","title":{"rendered":"Vijay Rupani to continue as Gujarat CM; Hiamchal CM yet to be decided"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vijay Rupani <\/a>will continue as Gujarat chief minister with Nitin Patel as his deputy chief minister, the BJP announced on Friday evening after a meeting of the party\u2019s newly-elected MLAs in the presence of union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll MLAs of the party were present in the meeting and the decision was taken unanimously,\u201d said Jaitley.<\/p>\n

The party was yet to decide on its chief minister for Himachal Pradesh where more than one name were doing the rounds with claims and counter-claims by rival groups.<\/p>\n

Rupani is close to party chief Amit Shah, and Shah had, during the party\u2019s poll campaign, said that the electoral battle will be fought under the leadership of Rupani who, with deputy chief minister Nitin Patel would continue in on his post after the assembly elections.<\/p>\n

Rupani is seen as caste neutral, but there was a view that the decline of BJP\u2019s numbers to 99 seats in the polls may go against him. Others said that replacing Vijay Rupani would amount to an admission that the party has suffered a setback in Gujarat. The party now has 100 in the assembly with an independent MLA Ratansinh Rathod from Lunawada extending his support to the party.<\/p>\n

For some time, there was speculation about other possible candidates for chief ministership, like union ministers Purshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya, both prominent Patel or Patidar leaders from Saurashtra, the region where the BJP lost most heavily.<\/p>\n

The swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place on December 25.<\/p>\n

In Himachal Pradesh, the defeat of BJP\u2019s chief ministerial candidate has opened up a contest for the post. Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman<\/a>, Narendra Singh Tomar and state party in-charge Mangal Pandey were in Shimla, holding consultations with the state RSS leaders, party workers and the core group, said media reports.<\/p>\n

Some BJP functionaries believe that the party would choose one of its MLAs as the state’s new chief minister. Five- time MLA Jairam Thakur is seen as a frontrunner among them.<\/p>\n

The clamour for making Dhumal the chief minister has also gained momentum and three BJP MLAs have reportedly offered to vacate their seats for him.<\/p>\n

But several other leaders, including the party veteran and Lok Sabha member from Kangra Shanta Kumar has reportedly opposed the move, saying that the party has a clear majority and several leaders were capable of leading the party and that electing a defeated leader would send a wrong signal, said media reports quoting sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"