Bhopal, June 30 (IANS) The process to elect the new state BJP chief in Madhya Pradesh is set to begin on Tuesday. 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.

The election process would be conducted in the presence of Union Minister and election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, who is expected to reach Bhopal on July 1.

Nominations will be filed on July 1, and the announcement will be made during a working committee meeting in Bhopal the next day, Madhya Pradesh BJP’s media department said in a statement on Monday.

The name of the new state BJP chief would be announced during a working committee meeting in Bhopal after 2 pm on July 2, according to the state BJP media department.

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 with securing 163 out of a total of 230 seats.

More importantly, the BJP managed to retain power despite huge anti-incumbency against 20 years of 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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