Rajnath Singh calls Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chouhan 'Dhoni of Politics'

2023 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly election: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said calling 'mama' Shivraj Singh Chouhan the 'Dhoni' of politics would not be an exaggeration

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday likened the leadership qualities of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to those of former Indian Men's Cricket team captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

While addressing a gathering at an event in Madhya Pradesh's Neemuch, Rajnath Singh said, "I have seen the MP CM working in the field of politics. If I say that your 'mama' Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the 'Dhoni' of politics, then that would not be an exaggeration."

He added, "I am calling him the 'Dhoni' of politics because I have known him for the last 30 years. No matter how the beginning is, he knows to win the cricket match by giving a good finish. This is the art of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. But he has gained political success not just based on art, he has served the people like a caretaker. This is how he has gained the trust of the people."
 

The Defence Minister then hit out at former MP CM and Congress leader Kamal Nath, saying that no work was done under his previous one-and-a-half-year tenure.

"Kamal Nath came for a year and a half and what did he do? The poor should have a roof over their head, and for that Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved houses for them. But he [Kamal Nath] said we will not make 2 lakh homes. He was worried that PM Modi would get the credit. In his governance of 1.5 years, he cancelled all our schemes and hindered the schemes coming from the centre," Rajnath Singh said.

He further stated that Congress has accepted that they cannot defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone and that the Opposition INDIA bloc is an outcome of that.

"Congress has added a new clan INDIA. They have accepted that they cannot defeat the BJP alone," he added.

2023 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

The Madhya Pradesh Assembly election is set to take place later this year. The state is headed for a close election between the ruling BJP and the Congress.

In the last Assembly elections, held in 2018, the Congress swept to power in the state, together with two other states, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The Congress party had emerged as the single-largest party in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, with 114 seats against the BJP's 109 seats, deposing the saffron party from its 15-year rule.

Congress leader Kamal Nath was sworn in as the state's Chief Minister in 2018. However, fifteen months later, after being stumped by the rebellion of party colleague Jyodiraditya Scindia, who joined the BJP, and the resignations of 22 Congress MLAs, Kamal Nath stepped down and resigned as Chief Minister, and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan returned as the state's CM for the fourth time.