Pokhriyal replaces Khanduri

Ramesh Pokhriyal clinches the top post after Khanduri was forced to resign

Hardnews Bureau Delhi

BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal is set to be the new chief minister of Uttarakhand, confirmed party sources on Wednesday. The 51-year-old journalist-turned-politician Pokhriyal was reportedly elected unanimously as the new legislative head, defeating another favourite for the top post, state minister for tourism and parliamentary affairs, Prakash Pant.  Pokhriyal was earlier the state minister of health in the Uttarakhand government.

He takes over command from BC Khanduri, who had resigned on Tuesday at the behest of the party's high command. The resignation had come after the BJP's core-group decided to replace him in a meeting held at the residence of LK Advani on Monday. Party president Rajnath Singh had confirmed in a press briefing that Khanduri's resignation had been accepted.

One of the main reasons behind Khanduri's resignation was the growing dissidence against him within the party circles, learnt Hardnews. Sources suggested that many in the BJP felt that he was responsible for the party's dismal performance in Uttarakhand in the general elections. The party failed to clinch even a single seat out of five in the state, which is considered a BJP "stronghold".

Apparently, a considerable section within the party was demanding his resignation and senior party leader BS Koshiyari had even resigned from the Rajya Sabha recently in an act of protest. Though he relented to the orders of the party's top brass and withdrew his resignation, the BJP came under intense pressure to take action against Khanduri.

However, Koshiyari's  pressure tactic was called "gross indiscipline" by the party's core group and thus he was not in the reckoning for the top post, suggested unconfirmed media reports.