New Delhi: The BJP top brass on Saturday held a meeting with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and conveyed to him that he will have to step down in the wake of a series of alleged scams facing state the government.
Sources said Pokhriyal's exit from the Chief Minister's post is imminent. The BJP Parliamentary Board had held a meeting on September 8 to discuss the party's prospects in Uttarakhand and the need for a change in leadership.
It was decided that Pokhriyal would be replaced by former Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri.
Nishank may, however, be given an opportunity to go gracefully as the party does not want to ruffle any feathers ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Unconfirmed sources said when the senior leaders apprised Pokhriyal of their decision, he offered to resign.
Pokhriyal's performance was not upto the mark and the alleged cases of graft were affecting BJP's image in the hill state, the sources said.
There were apprehensions that this could cost the party dear in the Assembly elections which are just a few months away.
Other than BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, today's meeting was attended by Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley, senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh who is now given special charge of Uttarakhand elections, Dharmendra Pradhan and Thawar Chand Gehlot.
Khanduri has the image of an honest, no-nonsense leader who commands a lot of respect among the retired defence personnel in Uttarakhand. The state sends a lot of young men to the defence forces and Khanduri, a former army official, is a natural leader for them.
Another reason for bringing in Khanduri is that there were rumours that the sulking leader was planning to form another party. This would have taken away all the retired army personnel who form a major chunk of the BJP votebank.
His close associate TPS Rawat, who was expelled from the party, is already wooing this votebank.
BJP's plans include bringing back Rawat to the party fold and using Khanduri's services for this purpose.
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