I am not in fray for CM post in MP, says Shivraj

Bhopal: After leading the BJP to a massive victory in Madhya Pradesh, incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said that he was “never a contender to head the next BJP government in the state.”

“I have never been a contender for the chief minister post nor am I today. As a worker, I have always carried out whatever work has been assigned to me by the BJP with dedication, honesty and to the best of my capacity,” Chouhan said in a video posted on his X account. He asserted that he felt proud to work under Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led the country towards prosperity.

Chouhan’s statement comes amid mounting suspense over who will be the chief minister of MP after BJP secured a landslide victory in the outgoing Assembly polls in MP by winning 163 out of 230 seats.

Replying to a reporter’s question after a programme in Bhopal, Chouhan said he has no plans to visit Delhi to meet top leaders. “I won’t be going to Delhi. I am visiting Chhindwara tomorrow where we were not able to win all the seven seats (falling under Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency). I have only one resolution, BJP should win all 29 seats in MP (in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections),” he said. Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency, the family bastion of Congress veteran and former chief minister Kamal Nath, has been held by the grand old party since 1971.

Several leaders including Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and state party president V.D. Sharma met party’s national president J.P. Nadda in Delhi over the last two days.