Bhopal, July 2 (IANS) A day after Hemant Khandelwal (60), former MP and sitting MLA from Betul, emerged as the sole nominee for the Madhya Pradesh BJP unit chief, an official announcement about his elevation to the post will be announced on Wednesday.

A meeting of the 379-member electoral college from the state, including 163 MLAs, 29 MPs, district BJP presidents, and select office-bearers, is scheduled for Wednesday morning to make the official announcement. After the formal announcement, Khandelwal will take over as the state BJP president from his predecessor — Khajuraho MP, V.D. Sharma, who served a five-and-a-half-year term as the state party president.

After taking over charge from outgoing state BJP chief Sharma, a celebration and felicitation event will be organised at the BJP headquarters here, which will be attended by all 379 members of the electoral college and party workers from across Madhya Pradesh.

Subsequently, V.D. Sharma will be given farewell for his successful tenure as MP BJP chief, under whose leadership, the party won the Assembly election in November-December 2023 and retained power despite huge anti-incumbency against the two decades of rule in the state.

Sharma also became the first MP BJP chief under whose leadership the party managed to make a clean sweep, winning all 29 Lok Sabha seats in June 2024. In 2019, the BJP won 28 out of 29 Lok Sabha seats. The only seat it lost was Chhindwara, the bastion of Congress stalwart and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

However, in 2024, the BJP wrested Chhindwara from Congress, following which, the BJP also won a bypoll in the Amarwara Assembly seat in July last year.

Newly to be elevated state BJP president Khandelwal, known for maintaining a low profile, was selected by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav as the party’s candidate for the state presidency. His nomination received support from several BJP leaders, including former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Virendra Kumar Khatik, outgoing state BJP chief V.D. Sharma, and Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla.

Notably, two senior BJP leaders — State Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and former State Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who were the other strong contenders for the post, were absent during the nomination process on Tuesday, sources in the BJP told IANS.

Khandelwal’s single nomination hints at CM Yadav’s growing control over party decisions in the state and may reflect efforts to consolidate power or prepare for upcoming political challenges.

Khandelwal, 60, initially entered politics through a 2007 bypoll following the death of his father, veteran BJP MP Vijay Kumar Khandelwal. His father had served as Lok Sabha MP for four terms.

He transitioned to state politics, served as MLA in 2013 and was again elected in 2023. Despite losing in 2018, he maintained a low-profile, consensus-building image backed by both the RSS and party leadership.

–IANS

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