Bhopal, July 1 (IANS) Amid speculation within the BJP that the central leadership has already approved the name of a new party chief in Madhya Pradesh, all 379 members of the electoral college are expected to arrive in Bhopal by Tuesday evening.

The list of state electoral college was published late on Monday, comprising 163 MLAs, 29 Lok Sabha MPs and district presidents of MP BJP.

The voting will take place in case there is more than one candidate contesting the polls.

These 379 electoral members will also elect 44 members of the party’s national council.

BJP state election officer for the organisational polls, Vivek Naran Shejwalkar, on Monday night, stated that the preparations for the election process have been completed, and voting will take place, in case more than one candidate comes into the fray. The nomination papers for the post of state BJP chief will be submitted between 4.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday.

With the nomination process completed, the picture will be a lot clearer, although, BJP will formally announce the name of the new state president during the working committee meeting at 2 pm on Wednesday. If the voting takes place, it would be the second time in Madhya Pradesh that the state president would be selected through an election process. Last time, Shivraj Singh Chouhan was elected as the state BJP president, who later became Chief Minister, and now he is serving as the Union Agriculture Minister.

The election process would be conducted in the presence of Union Minister and election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, who is scheduled to arrive in Bhopal by Tuesday afternoon. It is also likely that Pradhan will have the name of the new MP BJP chief approved by the party’s central leadership — Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The state would get a new chief after a delay of more than a year, as V.D. Sharma completed his five-year tenure in February last year. Second-time MP from Khajuraho, V.D. Sharma, had taken charge as state BJP chief in 2020 after the party lost the Assembly election in 2018. He has been a successful state BJP chief with the party winning the Assembly election by securing 163 out of a total of 230 seats.

More importantly, the BJP managed to retain power despite huge anti-incumbency against the 20-year BJP rule in the state. The party has fought one Lok Sabha election, one Assembly election and several by-elections under his leadership.

Sharma is also the first state chief under whose leadership the BJP won all 29 Lok Sabha seats for the first time in Madhya Pradesh. Sharma is likely to be given a new responsibility at the national level in the near future. Typically, the term of a BJP state president is three years, but Sharma is the first to have held the position for such an extended period.

–IANS

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