BJP shows Nishank the door,Khanduri to be new Uttarakhand CM

Gadkari cites forthcoming polls as the only reason for change in state leadership.

Seeking to salvage its sagging image in poll-bound Uttarakhand,BJP announced Bhuvan Chand Khanduri would replace Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank as the chief minister of the state.

After two long rounds of talks with Nishank,the BJP top brass convinced him to step down from the post of chief minister in the wake of a series of alleged scams against his government.

“Keeping in view the forthcoming elections in Uttarakhand,BJP has decided for a change of leadership in Uttarakhand. B C Khanduri will be the new chief minister of the state. The decision will be endorsed by the party MLAs at a meeting in Dehradun tomorrow,” party president Nitin Gadkari told reporters after a four-hour meeting.

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He was flanked by Nishank and party general secretary Ananth Kumar.

“It was conveyed to Nishank that the party wants a change of leadership in view of the elections. There have been some allegations in the media that there are cases of corruption against him. The party wants to make it clear that there are no charges against him,” Gadkari said.

He reiterated the only reason for the change were the forthcoming polls.

BJP General Secretary and Chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad will be the central observer during the meeting of MLAs for finalising Khanduri’s name.

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Sources said though the decision to remove Khanduri had been taken at the Parliamentary Board meeting of the party last Friday,BJP top brass did not want to ruffle any feather by sacking Nishank unceremoniously.

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