At BJP’s parliamentary meet today, CM faces of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on agenda

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah to address party cadres at the meet
NEW DELHI: A day after Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Party chief Amit Shah will address party cadres at its parliamentary meet on Wednesday.
All elected lawmakers are present at the parliamentary meet, which began at around 10 am today.
One of the chief agendas to be picked up in this meeting is the Chief Ministerial faces of Gujarat and Himachal.
BJP managed to pull a landslide victory in the hill state, but Chief Ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal lost his Sujanpur constituency to Congress. State chief Satpal Singh Satti also lost his seat.
Their defeat has put a question mark on the face of the next chief minister.
Union minister JP Nadda, newly-elected BJP MLA Jairam Thakur have now emerged as the frontrunners of Himachal CM’s post.
The BJP high command, on Monday evening, reportedly appointed Sitharaman and Tomar as Central observers for the hill state, with party chief Amit Shah briefed them.
Meanwhile in Gujarat, the BJP – which managed to retain power for a record sixth time – is mulling a course correction after losing several seats to arch-rivals Congress.
The party leadership is reportedly considering a new face to replace the incumbent Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, despite his victory from the Rajkot West seat.
Among the names floating around are Textiles and Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Smriti Irani and Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Mansukh L Mandaviya.
Irani, however, has denied being a contender for the CM’s post.
Senior party leader Nitin Patel and Vajubhai Vala, the incumbent governor of Karnataka and former Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, are also among the frontrunners for the top job, according to sources.
The new BJP government in Gujarat is likely to be sworn in on December 25