Shimla: Bharatiya Janata Party national president J P Nadda on Sunday categorically rejected reports about the impending change of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur with Union Minister for information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur.
"There is no question of any change in the Chief Minister. Jai Ram Thakur is going to lead the party to the polls and will also be Chief Minister again to head the next government in Himachal Pradesh," Nadda declared, on the second-day of his four-day tour in home state, which goes to the polls this year with Gujarat.
Nadda said the government was functioning very well and has done quite a good job, during the past four years. "Neither Chief Minister nor any Minister will be changed," he said ending all speculations about Anurag Thakur, four-time MP from Hamirpur.
Three days back Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had claimed that the BJP had panicked after AAP convener Arvind Arvind Kejriwal road show in Mandi — Chief Minister's home district and thus was planning to change Jai Ram Thakur .
Nadda, in reply to a query from media persons said, "You should not give credence to statements being made by AAP leaders. Do you know how many seats they contested in states like UP, Uttarakhand and Goa? The security deposits of all its candidates have been forfeited".
He said the BJP have returned to power in four states, breaking the myth that no party returning to power for the second term will form the next government in Himachal Pradesh.
Nadda, however, when asked if tickets could be denied to sitting MLAs, said there was always a possibility. In any case, the BJP has a rule to change about 10 per cent of the total ticket in any election, he added.
The BJP national president who hails from Himachal Pradesh said the party was already in the poll mode and there is a details programme for next six months at the organisational level to reach every booth and sit with booth level workers and highlight the achievements of the government. All party MLAs and leaders have been told that they should effectively take the government's achievements to the masses and quell dissent and win over party leaders who were unhappy.
"I am fully satisfied and happy with the coordination between the party and the state government," Nadda said .
Nadda said during next two days he will be in Bilaspur to hold 30 meetings including news of the AIIMS project which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate in June 2022 besides addressing a rally of one lakh youths.
In the last two days, he has held marathon meetings with the Core Committee, comprising top brass of the state leadership, party legislators, state executive office-bearers, councilors and local leaders.
Nadda rejected the speculation of infighting within the party. "The BJP is a party with a democratic values unlike others, where speaking one's mind is always viewed as dissidence," he said.