Bhopal, July 9 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday postponed its Madhya Pradesh state executive committee meeting, scheduled to be held in Orchha on July 18 and 19, in view of the Datia Assembly bypoll and the upcoming Monsoon Session of the state Assembly.

In a statement, BJP state President Hemant Khandelwal said the party would announce revised dates for the meeting shortly.

“The decision has been taken in view of the Datia Assembly by-election and the forthcoming session of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly,” Khandelwal said.

The state executive committee meeting was expected to be attended by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, state ministers, MPs, MLAs, district presidents and other senior office-bearers of the party.

It would have been the first such meeting after Khandelwal took over as the BJP’s state unit president last week.

The meeting was expected to review the party’s organisational activities and discuss its strategy for the coming months.

The postponement comes at a time when political parties have stepped up campaigning for the Datia Assembly bypoll, scheduled for July 30. Counting of votes will take place on August 3.

The by-election was necessitated following the disqualification of Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti after his conviction in a criminal case.

The BJP has fielded former Home Minister Narottam Mishra, while the Congress has nominated Varsha Bharti, wife of the disqualified legislator.

The BJP is also preparing for the Monsoon Session of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, scheduled to be held from July 20 to July 24.

The five-day session is expected to witness discussions on several issues, with the Opposition likely to target the government over matters related to governance, law and order, and farmers’ issues.

The government is expected to introduce legislative business, including the first supplementary Budget of the financial year.

State BJP media in-charge Ashish Agarwal said the fresh dates for the state executive committee meeting would be announced separately.

–IANS

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