Himachal CM

Five-term MLA Rajiv Bindal, former state BJP chief Suresh Bharadwaj, and Krishan Kapoor, both elected for a fourth term could also be considered.

Sources said the party may opt for a Thakur leader, the dominant community in the hill state. Nadda is a Brahmin.

Some in the state party unit even continue to bat for Dhumal despite his defeat, with Varinder Kanwar, the MLA from Kutlehar, even offering to vacate his seat for him.

More than 15 newly-elected legislators are known loyalists of Dhumal, party sources said.

The BJP has 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly.

Jai Ram Thakur, who has risen through the ranks in the party, said “People of the state have reposed faith in BJP. Call on the electing party leader is taken by the party high command and the legislators . I will abide by whatever responsibility is given to me by the party.”

“It a great victory for party, and central leaders will hold consultations before the party legislators meet here to elect a new leader,” state party chief Satpal Singh Satti.

Three-time legislator Satti, who has been state party chief for three terms, had lost to Congress Satpal Singh Raiza by 3,696 votes. “I acknowledge the people’s verdict,” Satti said on his defeat .

The party’s in-charge for Himachal affairs, Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey, will arrive in the state capital tonight . “It’s after consultation with state party in-charge that the meeting of legislators will be fixed,” he said.

Party sources say that the names of the senior BJP leader and Shimla legislator Suresh Bhardwaj is also in reckoning.

Four-time legislator from Shimla Suresh Bhardwaj is one of the founding leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh. Bhardwaj started his career as RSS pracharak before joining the party’s student wing, the ABVP. Bhardwaj was also jailed during the Emergency.

He subsequently became national treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, and was part of the first BJP government in Himachal in 1990.