BHOPAL: Either of the two, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Kamal Nath or the head of state party’s Election Campaign Management Committee Jyotiraditya Scindia would become the Chief Minister if the Congress returns to power in the poll bound state, said party’s national general secretary in-charge for the state Deepak Babaria on Monday.
Babaria made the statement before journalists in the presence of former union minister and Lok Sabha member Kantilal Bhuria in Jhabua district, when questioned who would be the party’s CM if the Congress returned to power in the state after 15 years post-2018 year end assembly polls.
“The Congress is going to win the coming assembly polls in MP. Either of the two, Kamal Nath or Jyotiraditya Scindia will become the CM after that,” said Babaria.
He added that it’s correct that the legislature party elects its leader, whose name is then sent for approval to the party high command. “But the party has already resolved that either Kamal Nath or Jyotiraditya Scindia would be the CM when Congress comes to power after next polls.”
Babaria’s latest statements, if true, have closed the door for any other senior party leader, including ex-CM Digvijaya Singh, former state party president Arun Yadav, Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Ajay Singh or senior leader Suresh Pachouri being in race for becoming the next CM.
Babaria also claimed that Congress would sweep the entire Malwa-Nimar region of the state by winning 80% of the state. It was this region, that ruling BJP had swept during the 2013 polls, ultimately winning 165 seats in the 230-member Vidhan Sabha.
Babaria’s statement comes two days after party’s national secretary in-charge for MP, Sanjay Kapoor had in Indore made it clear that party’s CM candidate in MP Assembly polls would be declared at the “right time through a democratic process.”
On Saturday, Jyotiraditya Scindia too had said that there was no need to declare CM or deputy CM candidate in the state, as the priority should be to first bring the party back to power in MP.
A few days back, Babaria, while addressing a program in Bhopal had said that Dalit leader Surendra Choudhary (who is one of four working presidents of the state party in MP) would be the deputy CM, if the Congress returned to power by winning most of the 35 assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Caste category.
Both Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, however, had distanced selves from Babaria’s deputy CM statement.
On Monday, not only did Babaria speak about his party, but also claimed that present CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan wouldn’t be the chief ministerial face of ruling BJP in the coming polls in MP. “As per strong indications dropped by none other, but BJP’s national president Amit Shah two months back, Chouhan won’t be the party’s CM face in next polls. Both PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah don’t want Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the next CM in the state. Instead they want any of the three senior leaders, including union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvarigya or MP minister Dr Narottam Mishra as the CM’s face in next assembly polls,” claimed Babaria.
Reacting to Babaria’s statements, the state BJP’s chief spokesperson Deepak Vijayvargiya said “nobody in Congress takes Babaria seriously, so why should we react on his speculative statements. Senior Congress leaders have already distanced selves from his statements, so there is no need for BJP to react on his irresponsible statements.”