PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to appoint a new State president for Uttarakhand within a week or in the first week of April. Discussions over the new State president have been ongoing within the party leadership for the past several days after the announcement of the names of Mandal and district presidents. Multiple rounds of meetings have reportedly been held between the BJP high command, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and current BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt in the past two weeks. Several BJP leaders also reportedly visited Delhi in the past two days.
Political observers suggest that the party may follow the traditional pattern of balancing regional and caste representation in leadership appointments. Several names have emerged as potential candidates for the position. Among them, Aditya Kothari, Vinod Chamoli, Madan Kaushik and Jyoti Prasad Gairola, are considered strong contenders due to their organisational experience. There is also a possibility that the BJP may appoint a woman as the State president for the first time. In that case, Kedarnath MLA Asha Nautiyal and Deepti Rawat Bhardwaj are among the likely choices. However, many also believe that BJP is also likely to reappoint Bhatt as the State president.
Responding to the delay in the appointment of the new State president, the BJP State vice president Jyoti Prasad Gairola stated that while the party has finalised Mandal and district presidents, the appointment of the State president follows a separate schedule determined by the central leadership for each State across the country.
He said that the selection process will take place at an appropriate time as per the party’s internal schedule. The central leadership will take the final decision, hopefully by the end of March or in the first week of April, he added.
