The Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party meeting began in New Delhi on Wednesday to elect the successor of B C Khanduri, who resigned from the post of chief minister of Uttarakhand on Tuesday.

The names of Minister for Tourism and Parliamentary Affairs Prakash Pant and Health Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal are doing the rounds as possible front-runners to replace Khanduri.

Khanduri handed over a copy of his resignation letter to the party president Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, after discussions with the top leadership of the BJP. He has sent his resignation letter to the state Governor for acceptance, separately.

The BJP in Uttarakhand has been in turmoil ever since it lost all five Lok Sabha seats in the state and dissidents led by senior leader B S Koshiyari landed in New Delhi to press for Khanduri''s removal.