Bharatiya Janata Party's move to field seven Lok Sabha members, including three Union ministers and the party's general secretary, in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls is reportedly a sign that the Chief Minister's position is open.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said his party's parliamentary board will take a decision on who will be the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh after it wins the November 17 assembly elections and forms a government in the state.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's move of fielding seven Lok Sabha members, including three Union ministers - Narendra Singh Tomar, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Prahlad Patel and also party's general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya - for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls has signalled that has kept options open for the state's top post.
Addressing a press conference here, former Union minister Prasad said, "It is the tradition of the party that the parliamentary board takes the decision...And opinion of MLAs will be taken when the government is formed. A deserving person will become the chief minister."
He was replying to a question about who could be the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh if the BJP is elected to power in Madhya Pradesh.
During a media interaction in August this year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, when asked if incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will continue to be the CM if the BJP retains power after the elections, had refused to give a direct reply.
"Why are you (media) doing the party's work? Our party will do its own work. Shivraj ji is CM and we are in the election...Take the development works of Modi ji (PM Modi) and Shivraj ji to the public. Also highlight if Congress did any development," Shah had said.
Targeting the opposition Congress, Prasad said when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, PM Narendra Modi condemned it, but at the same time, India helped the needy persons in Palestine.
"But the stand of the Congress has been the same as that of the Muslim League in Kerala. A Hamas leader addressed a rally in Kerala but Congress is maintaining silence on the issue. Did the Congress oppose when INDIA bloc constituents termed Sanatan Dharma as dengue and malaria?" he asked.
On the one hand the Congress keeps silence when Sanatan Dharma is insulted, while on the other it tries to connect with Hamas for votes, the BJP MP alleged.
Elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly will be held on November 17.