Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called on BJP national president J.P. Nadda in New Delhi late on Thursday.
Taking to X late night, Mr. Chouhan posted: “Had a courtesy call on the national president of the BJP, Honourable Shri J.P. Nadda ji in New Delhi today.”
Mr. Chouhan was in Delhi to attend the wedding reception of Indore Lok Sabha member Shankar Lalwani’s son. A BJP source said Mr. Chouhan accompanied Mr. Nadda in his car to his home where the two held talks for more than an hour.
The meeting comes just days after Chief Minister Mohan Yadav was in the national capital to meet Mr. Nadda and various Union Ministers, including Bhupender Yadav and Piyush Goyal.
The meeting also comes at a time when the State unit of the BJP has started actively preparing for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. However, Mr. Chouhan, who remained the Chief Minister for nearly two decades, has not been given a fixed responsibility yet after he was replaced with Mr. Yadav following the Assembly election last year.
Speculation is rife in the State that the party could field him in the Lok Sabha election from Chhindwara, the bastion of Congress stalwart Kamal Nath and the only seat that the BJP lost in 2019, or Vidisha, the seat Mr. Chouhan held before becoming the Chief Minister in 2005.
Following his last meeting with Mr. Nadda in December, Mr. Chouhan has been touring the southern States as part of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY).
‘Popular leader’
Pointing out Mr. Chouhan’s hold over people even after being replaced as the CM, a BJP insider in the State unit said he is going to be a “key factor” for the party in the Lok Sabha election. “Even if he is not the CM, he continues to be the most popular leader in the State. He is still meeting people at his residence and in parts of the State, listening to their problems. The party leadership is also aware that his hold over the masses, especially women, will only benefit the BJP in the polls,” the leader said.
He added that Mr. Chouhan’s role “will only be decided after the elections”. “He is not just MP material. So, even if he is fielded in the polls, whether he will be inducted into the Union Cabinet or the party organisation will be decided after the election,” he said.
