Will decide who will be Madhya Pradesh CM after poll result, says Amit Shah

The BJP has not yet declared Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the party's CM's face, and there are strong signs that the party will stick with this plan till the polls, said a senior BJP leader

Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated on Sunday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will decide on the Madhya Pradesh chief minister's post only after the elections, appearing to skirt queries about whether the incumbent, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, will continue in the post.

The remarks come as the party has begun campaigning for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections without naming a chief ministerial candidate.

When asked if Chouhan would be the chief minister if the BJP retained power in the upcoming polls, Shah replied, "Shivraj ji is the chief minister. It's our party's job to decide on the post, and we will decide. The party will carry out its mandate."

"My request to you is to relay to the people whatever work has been done under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan so that development can be included on the electoral agenda," he added.

Earlier, while releasing a report card on the Madhya Pradesh government's performance over the last two decades and launching the 'Garib Kalyan Maha Abhiyan,' the Union minister indicated that PM Modi would be the campaign's primary figure.

The saffron party does not usually name its CM face before elections in places where it is in Opposition. In the state where it is in power, the incumbent CM is considered the front-runner for the post if he retains power. Senior party officials, however, stated that the party's parliamentary board, the BJP's top decision-making body, will decide who will be the CM following the results.

"You may wonder why I am counting India's achievements [under PM Modi's leadership]. I'm doing this because Madhya Pradesh's people have to decide whether MP should be on the list of 24 scams [that allegedly occurred during the United Progressive Alliance government] for the next five years, or on the list of no 1 and no 2 ranks," Shah added.

Meanwhile, a senior BJP leader told Hindustan Times (HT) that, unlike the 2008, 2013, and 2018 assembly elections, the BJP has not yet declared Chouhan as the party's CM's face, and there are strong signs that the party will stick with this plan till the polls.

On the other hand, slamming the Chouhan-led state government, Congress leader Shobha Oza said, "It's very clear that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has lost his credibility in the eyes of the people of Madhya Pradesh and the BJP leadership both given a lot of major scams that have occurred during his regime so far, including the Vyapam scam. The latest being the patwari exam scam. As a result, the BJP leadership does not want to anger people even more by naming him as the CM face. In any case, the BJP will not retain power in the state."