‘Not a contender for CM post’: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Chouhan’s statement has come at a time when all prominent state leaders are meeting national BJP president JP Nadda in Delhi to finalise the next chief minister

Published on: Dec 5, 2023, 17:28:12 IST

By Shruti Tomar

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Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said that he was not a contender for the post of chief minister in the past or now in Madhya Pradesh, a state where he has held the fort for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2005.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan celebrates the party's victory with BJP workers and supporters in Bhopal. (PTI Photo)

“I was not a contender for the post of chief minister in the past, nor am I today,” Chouhan told reporters while thanking voters for his party’s resounding victory. “I will not go to Delhi, I will go to Chhindwara. I have to start preparing for Lok Sabha. This time the BJP will also win the Chhindwara seat.”

Chhindwara is a family bastion of former chief minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath. His son Nakul Nath is the sitting Lok Sabha MP from the seat.

Chouhan’s statement has come at a time when all prominent state leaders are meeting national BJP president JP Nadda in Delhi to finalise the next chief minister. On Monday, Union ministers Prahlad Patel, Narendra Singh Tomar and the party national general secretary met Nadda, and state BJP president VD Sharma met him in Delhi on Tuesday.

“I am very lucky that I am a worker of BJP. The BJP is a mission of reconstruction of nation and being a worker, we are working day and night in this mission,” he said.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CM said, “I am lucky that Narendra Modi is our leader, and we are getting the opportunity to work with him.”

“As a worker, I tried to do with utmost honesty and to the best of my ability whatever work the BJP gave me… Going forward, I will do whatever work the party entrusts me with,” he added.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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