Sushil Modi aide to be next Bihar BJP president

44-year-old Pandey was the sole candidate to file nomination for the post, the deadline for which ended this evening.

Pandey filed seven sets of nomination papers with Modi being among 107 state executive members proposing his candidature, election officer Arti Mehra told reporters.

Outgoing state BJP president C P Thakur, who was said to be sulking after being denied a second term by BJP national leadership, did not visit the party office, much to the embarassment of the central leaders gathered to showcase a united face.

Thakur, who had served as a union minister in NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, refused to meet central leaders like Ananth Kumar and Dharmendra Pradhan when they tried to contact him.

Thakur's supporters shouted slogans against the BJP national leadership at the Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport and thumped the bonnet of the vehicle in which the national leaders were to be driven to the party office.

Before the situation could turn for the worse, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Giriraj Singh intervened and managed to clear the way for central leaders Ananth Kumar and Dharmendra Pradhan among others. MORE