Bhopal: Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections due by the year end, the ruling BJP on Wednesday appointed its parliamentarian from Jabalpur Rakesh Singh as the party’s state unit chief. Singh, the Jabalpur MP and party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha, replaced Nandkumar Singh Chauhan who has been the BJP’s state unit president since August 2014. The BJP national general secretary Arun Singh issued a letter on Wednesday appointing Rakesh Singh as the state party chief. Well in advance before the programme, at around 11 am, it was all out that Rakesh Singh has replaced Chouhan.
According to sources, Singh’s name was finalised in the BJP’s state core group meeting in Bhopal last night. The meeting was also attended by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP organisational secretary Ramlal. The general elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly will be held by the end of the year. The BJP, which has been at the helm of affairs in the state since 2003, faces the challenge of retaining power for the fourth consecutive term.
This is for the first time that the BJP has selected anybody from Mahakaushal region of the State, for the post of State BJP president. Two other names that were doing rounds for the post were of PR Minister Marottam Mishra and Home Minister Bhupendra Singh. However, sources said that both Bhupendra and Rakesh Singh are close relatives.