No Competition in BJP for CM’s Chair, Shivraj Singh Not Sidelined: Narendra Singh Tomar | Exclusive – News18

There is no competition in the BJP on who will become the Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan has not been side-lined by the party, Union agriculture minister and senior BJP leader, Narendra Singh Tomar has told News18.

In an interview during his campaign trail on Thursday, Tomar said there was no anti-incumbency against the BJP in Madhya Pradesh though the party had been in power for over 18 years. “We were never behind in this election. We will form a full majority government. For us, public support is only increasing and we will register a historic win,” Tomar told News18 when asked if the BJP had made up lost ground after talk that it has a slow start. He conducted multiple public meetings on Thursday.

Tomar is the MP from Morena and also the election management committee chief of the BJP in the poll-bound state. As the senior-most leader of the party in the state, Tomar has also been put up as a candidate in these assembly elections from the Dimani seat, triggering speculation that he could be the CM if the BJP wins. “In BJP, there is no competition on who will be CM. Whatever our leadership will decide, as it did for Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the past, all will accept it,” Tomar answered on the CM question.

When asked why the BJP was fighting the election by putting in front the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi even after being in power for 18 years, Tomar said: “In BJP, Narendra Modi is our top leader ‘toh woh to hamesha saamne hi rahenge’. Our CM, me or our other leaders — we are all working under Modi’s leadership so we are fighting under his name in Madhya Pradesh,” Tomar said, adding that the BJP in MP was fighting under a collective leadership.

Nath Face Sullied: Tomar

Tomar rejected suggestions that CM Chouhan had been side-lined in the party as his name has not been projected as the next CM. “Shivraj Chouhan is our CM and a big politician of Madhya Pradesh. Due to his leadership and popularity, party’s influence has expanded among public. He has run a good government,” Tomar told News18. He said Kamal Nath face is sullied as he did not deliver while he was in power for 15 months. People will not vote for Nath. They don’t trust him.”.

“We in the BJP have many leaders of the stature of Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh. Congress has just two of them. They are tearing each other’s clothes. People will not trust them,” Tomar told News18. The Union agriculture minister also said the farm loan waiver promised by Nath “is not a solution for problems of farmers” and Nath did not fulfil it earlier after promising the same. “He promised unemployment allowance but did not give it. On other hand, MP under BJP is No.1 in many schemes,” he said.

Tomar said the Centre’s PM Kisan Nidhi scheme and the state’s CM Kisan Nidhi were much better for farmers as Rs 12,000 was being given yearly to them. “The Ladli Laxmi Yojana and CM Ladli Behna Yojana (Rs 1,250 per month for women) have had a lot of impact on people. People’s income is increasing due to them and they are coming out of poverty. Let the Congress say anything on freebies — they did nothing when they got a chance to run a government,” Tomar told News18.

Problem with Ram Temple Posters?

Tomar also asked why the Congress in Madhya Pradesh had a problem with the Ram Temple posters put up by the BJP. “Are they in favour of Ram Mandir or against it? Congress is only trying to mislead the people,” Tomar told News18. He comes from the important Gwalior-Chambal region where the BJP lost 26 out of the 34 seats in the last elections. “In Gwalior-Chambal region, we made some mistakes the last time. We have always won 16-22 seats there before 2018. This time, the BJP position is good there and we will win maximum seats,” Tomar told News18.