Former BJP leader Sanjay Joshi, who was virtually forced out of the party following his opposition to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, was on Saturday given a warm reception here by party leaders considered close to Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, raising may eyebrows in the saffron circle here.
Mr Joshi, who was here to attend a seminar organised by a non-political organisation, was received at the airport by several BJP leaders and was later seen sharing dais with several senior state leaders, including BJP Rajya Sabha member Nand Kumar Sai, state BJP vice-president Shiv Ratan Sharma, Assembly deputy speaker Narayan Chandel and former Assembly speaker Prem Prakash Pandey in the function.
It was Mr Joshi’s first visit to the state after he resigned from the party reportedly under pressure from Mr Modi. In fact, Mr Joshi has a close link with state BJP since he was credited with building the party in Chhattisgarh.
Incidentally, the Chhattisgarh chief minister was said to be enjoying not a great relationship with his Gujarat counterpart and on several occasions he even did not hesitate to disapprove some of the controversial remarks by Mr Modi. Mr Joshi told reporters that he still continued to be a BJP member.
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BJP brings out first list for himachal polls
AGE CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Sept. 29
The BJP late on Friday announced its first list of candidates for the coming Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh, which includes the name of chief minister P.K. Dhumal and eight ministers in Dhumal’s Cabinet. The list of 45 candidates also include name of Mr Dhumal’s close associate and former health minister Rajeev Bindal, who had to quit his post earlier this year over corruption charges. These election in the state are first after the delimitation exercise.
Mr Dhumal will now contest from Hamirpur seat from where his son Anurag Thakur is the Lok Sabha MP. The party finalised all Assembly seats from Hamirpur including education minister Ishwar Dass Dhiman from Bhoranj, Urmil Thakur from Sujanpur, Baldev Sharma from Badsar and Vijay Agnihotri from Nadaun. Hamirpur has five assembly segments. I.D. Dhiman has shifted his seat from Mewa to Bhoranj after delimitation.
Importantly, the BJP has again fielded at least eight ministers in the Himachal Cabinet for state elections. Forest minister Khimi Ram will contest from Banjar in Kullu district while social welfare minister Sarveen Chaudhary will contest from Shahpur.