BHOPAL, Nov 1: Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said his party’s parliamentary board will take a decision on who will be the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh after it wins the November 17 assembly elections and forms a government in the state.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s move of fielding seven Lok Sabha members, including three Union ministers – Narendra Singh Tomar, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Prahlad Patel and also party’s general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya – for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls has signalled that has kept options open for the state’s top post.
Addressing a press conference here, former Union minister Prasad said, “It is the tradition of the party that the parliamentary board takes the decision…And opinion of MLAs will be taken when the government is formed. A deserving person will become the chief minister.”
He was replying to a question about who could be the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh if the BJP is elected to power in Madhya Pradesh.
During a media interaction in August this year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, when asked if incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will continue to be the CM if the BJP retains power after the elections, had refused to give a direct reply.
“Why are you (media) doing the party’s work? Our party will do its own work. Shivraj ji is CM and we are in the election…Take the development works of Modi ji (PM Modi) and Shivraj ji to the public. Also highlight if Congress did any development,” Shah had said.
Targeting the opposition Congress, Prasad said when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, PM Narendra Modi condemned it, but at the same time, India helped the needy persons in Palestine.
“But the stand of the Congress has been the same as that of the Muslim League in Kerala. A Hamas leader addressed a rally in Kerala but Congress is maintaining silence on the issue. Did the Congress oppose when INDIA bloc constituents termed Sanatan Dharma as dengue and malaria?” he asked.
On the one hand the Congress keeps silence when Sanatan Dharma is insulted, while on the other it tries to connect with Hamas for votes, the BJP MP alleged.
Kamal Nath targets
CM Shivraj
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Wednesday alleged that a “50 per cent commission” rule prevails in the state and accused Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of “ruining” the state and putting a lock on its future.
Addressing a public meeting at Kareli town in Narsinghpur district of the poll-bound state, Nath alleged that the future of youths, farmers and other sections was “ruined” by the BJP government.
“Chouhan has put a lock on the future of Madhya Pradesh and this lock opens only when you pay a 50 per cent commission. He has put a lock on the income of farmers, pension of employees, and on school uniforms of children,’ Nath alleged.
Notably, in the run-up to the assembly elections in Karnataka, the Congress, which was in opposition at that time, had blamed the outgoing BJP administration for being a “40 per cent commission” government.
Nath alleged that while common people are deprived of progress in MP, there is a “development of big scams and 50 per cent commission”.
“The development of Chouhan and the BJP has taken place,” he added.
In the last 18 years of BJP rule in Madhya Pradesh, the health system, education, and the panchayat and employment system have been totally ruined, the former chief minister said.
The polling for 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 17 and votes will be counted on December 3. (PTI)