BY A STAFF REPORTER
With NDA nominating West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar as their candidate for Vice President, the million dollar question going around in the political circles is who's next in politically sensitive state?
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC has been an extremely vocal and vitriolic critic of the Centre and BJP. In absence of a strong Opposition in the state, Governor Dhankar was a constant spanner in the wheels of the TMC.
The more blow hot less blow cold relationship between the Governor and the Chief Minister has seen a lot of acrimonious confrontation over the last three years. ANM News has learnt from senior leaders in the BJP that three names, former minister Mukhter Abbas Naqvi, Kerala Governor Arif Mhammed Khan and Himachal Pradesh Governor and former RSS activist, Rajendra Arlekar are under consideration.
Muslim votes are considered crucial to winning elections in Bengal and Mamata's TMC has managed to bag a major chunk of the minority electorate. By sending Naqvi or Khan to Bengal, BJP might look to send a signal to Muslim community.
Naqvi is currently out of job having resigned as a union minister after his Rajya Sabha term expired and Khan has served a long tenure in Kerala. Arlekar, BJP sources claimed, has an impeccable reputation and clean image with deep roots in the RSS.