Amit Shah says Shivraj will be CM face in MP polls

Bhopal: BJP national president Amit Shah on Saturday dismissed talks of changing the leadership in Madhya Pradesh, saying emphatically that Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be the chief minister for the fourth time if the BJP returns to power.

Assembly elections are due in Madhya Pradesh by year-end. In the current 230-member Assembly, the BJP has 168 MLAs and the Congress has 57.

Giving clear indication of the party’s faith in Mr Chouhan’s leadership, Mr Shah exhorted party workers gathered on the occasion of the launch of “Jan Ashirbad Yatra” by the chief minister in the temple town of Ujjain to ensure that the three-time chief minister returned to power for the fourth time.

Mr Shah’s “clarification” comes in the wake of the Congress spreading messages that Mr Chouhan might be replaced by another BJP leader if the ruling party retained power in the state in the coming Assembly polls. This has created confusion in the BJP here, threatening to erode Mr Chouhan’s authority in the ruling party as well as in his government.

Mr Shah credited Mr Chouhan for turning around MP from a sick state to a developed one during his 13-year-long rule.

“The mood of the gathering as well as the electrifying atmosphere here clearly indicated that Mr Chouhan will be chief minister for fourth time in a row and Narendra Modi will be Prime Minister for second time in a row in the year-end elections in MP and 2019 parliamentary polls in 2019”, Mr Shah said.

Mr Shah flagged off Mr Chouhan’s 55-day yatra in Ujjain. The yatra will cover all the 230 assembly constituencies in the state and is scheduled to end at Bhopal on September 25.