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Himachal Elections 2017: Prem Kumar Dhumal announced as BJP CM candidate, PM Modi hails decision

Amit Shah made this announcement.

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In a sudden development, the Bharatiya Janata Party has named former Himachal Pradesh CM Prem Kumar Dhumal as the CM candidate for the poll bound state. The decision was announced by BJP President Amit Shah who is currently campaigning in Himachal. ​Dhumal is a two time CM of the hill state. 

Himachal Pradesh with 68 Assembly seats will be polling on November 9. The counting of votes will be held on December 18. Dhumal along with JP Nadda were tipped as the two favoured choice for the top post. Finally Dhumal got the nod ahead of Nadda. The fact that BJP lost power twice under Dhumal was weighing on the mind of the BJP top leadership. But finally the clout Prem Kumar Dhumal enjoys in Himachal swayed the decision in his favour.

PM Modi hailed the decision on Twitter. 

BJP president Amit Shah named former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal the party's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly polls.

Shah made the announcement at a public meeting, putting to rest speculation over the party's choice for the top post.

"Virbharda Singh keeps asking us that under whose leadership the BJP is fighting the elections. In the whole country, the BJP is fighting under the leadership of Modiji.

But if you want to hear under whose leadership the BJP is contesting in Himachal, then I want to make it clear today.

"Vibhadra ji, the BJP is going to fight under Dhumalji's leadership in Himachal. I want to say that we will fight these 2017 polls in the name of our senior leader Dhumalji. I also want to say that Dhumalji is currently a former chief minister and the leader of the opposition, but after December 18 he will become Himachal's chief minister," Shah said.

Reacting to the being elevated: “I thank my high command, workers and people of Himachal Pradesh. Congress high command se dulha mangta tha, dulha BJP walo ne de diya hai (The Congress wanted a bride, the BJP’s given one).”

The assembly poll is scheduled on November 9 and results will be declared on December 18.

Union minister J P Nadda was seen as one of the contenders but Dhumal's mass connect in the hill state seems to have tipped the scale in his favour.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Tuesday questioned Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi about the work Congress has done in all these years. "Rahul asks Modi that what they have done in three years. But I would like to ask him that what they have done in all these years," Shah said, while addressing a public rally in Kangra.  He also hit out at the Virbhadra Singh-led government, saying there has been no development in the state.

"For five years the way how the government has worked in Himachal, I don't think that Himachal has developed the way it should have been," he added.

With agency inputs
 

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