Many CM hopefuls in BJP

New Delhi: Among other names doing the rounds in Maharashtra for the CM’s post are those of Vinod Tawade, Eknath Khadse and Sudhir Mungantiwar.

Supporters of Gopinath Munde’s daughter Pankaja are also mounting pressure on the party’s central leadership to consider her for the top job in Maharashtra too.

In Haryana, close on the heels of Capt. Abhimanyu for the coveted post are Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh and BJP state unit chief Ram Bilas Sharma.

For Maharashtra, the BJP leadership had earlier wanted to project Union minister and former party chief Nitin Gadkari as CM candidate, but Mr Gadkari showed no interest.

“I am not in the race for chief ministership as I am not interested in returning to state politics,” Mr Gadkari said in Nagpur on Tuesday.

On the eve of the vote, the BJP does not appear to be too confident about its electoral prospects in Haryana. The state usually votes on caste lines, and the BJP has no prominent Jat leader. While Capt. Abhimanyu is a Jat, a section of the party feels he “lacks charisma” and “is not as prominent as the Chautalas”.

Some in the BJP feel that Om Prakash Chautala’s INLD may have the “advantage” in the state. There is speculation in the saffron camp that Mr Chautala?s recent return to Tihar Jail on court orders may win him some sympathy votes.

The BJP also fears that the smaller regional outfits in the electoral fray may damage its prospects.

Also, it seems that despite the anti-incumbency factor, chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has managed to retain his hold in some constituencies, that include Rohtak and Jhajhar, among others. What might hit the saffron camp hard, it is felt, is the party’s lack of organisational structure in the state as the BJP could never make any major inroads into this Jat heartland.

Unlike Haryana, the BJP is hopeful of a better electoral outcome in Maharashtra. BJP spin doctors also indicated that in case of a fractured mandate, both the BJP and the Shiv Sena could still join hands to form a government.