It's anyone's guess as to who might replace Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan, who has been named Governor of Telangana.

Party insiders mention former AIADMK minister Nainar Nagenthran, State general secretary from Thanjavur M 'Karuppu' Muruganantham and former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan as top contenders for the post in the State in which the saffron party has long struggled to gain a strong foothold.  However, the length of the list of names being discussed indicates that the state unit is open to the possibility of the party's national leadership choosing someone completely unexpected as well.

Nagenthran, who joined the BJP just two years ago, after the death of AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, hails from Tirunelveli and is known as a strong organiser but his status as a relative newcomer may act against him. Muruganantham, who has good support among grassroot functionaries, and Ponnar have strong roots in the RSS, which may favour their chances.

Other contenders are said to be BJP national secretary H Raja and former MP CP Radhakrishan, who has also been state president. As a further indication of how open the field is, the names of second-rung leaders such as state general secretaries KS Narendran and Vanathi Sreenivasan and state secretary R Srinivasan are also making the rounds.