The BJP’s runaway dreams in Himachal Pradesh are evident and the party seems overtly confident of its prospects of coming to power, but what is it that sees party national president Amit Shah biting his nails? It is the growing incidence of factionalism and internecine attrition within the party. The party in the state is split between three factions: those of Dhumal, Shanta Kumar and JP Nadda. Shanta Kumar is mighty upset with the party bosses, for most of his people have not been given tickets. Nadda was pretty convinced that he would be the next CM of the idyllic hill state, but just then the party announced the name of Prem Kumar Dhumal as the CM candidate and took the light out of his life. Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur had been very cross that despite all his efforts, he could not find a berth in the Central ministry, and Dhumal had thus been fanning the flames under the BJP’s feet that unless a “Thakur” is made the CM, the Rajputs, who comprise 37 per cent of the population, would leave the ‘lotus’ and join hands with the ‘hand’, that is, Congress leader Veer Bhadra Singh. The party initially had no intentions of naming any CM candidate, but this Dhumal tactic forced its hand at the last moment.