Sehore (MP), Jun 7 (PTI) Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said he stands firmly with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav for the development of the state and asked the media not speculate about motives behind his ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Padyatra’.

On May 25, Chouhan started the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Padyatra’ from Ladkui to Bhadakuiy in Budhni assembly constituency here with the aim of interacting with citizens and creating the path to a developed India.

However, some news reports have speculated that the mass outreach programme was Chouhan’s way of reminding everybody that he was still a force to reckon with in the state. Chouhan was chief minister of MP for the longest time, his stint starting in 2005 and ending in 2023, with just a brief 18-month period when Kamal Nath headed a Congress government.

Some reports also hinted that the yatra was to promote Chouhan’s son Kartikey, who was one of the names in the fray from the BJP for the Budhni assembly bypolls necessitated by Chouhan’s winning Lok Sabha elections last year. Kartikey, who did not get the ticket, later told reporters he was never in the race in the first place.

After the 2023 polls, in which the BJP had a landslide victory mainly due to the Ladli Behna Yojana started by Chouhan, the top post went to fellow OBC Mohan Yadav. It was widely believed at the time that Chouhan would become CM again.

Speaking at a function to inaugurate and lay foundation stones of projects costing Rs 113.45 crore in Sehore on Saturday in the presence of Yadav, Chouhan said, “As a public representative, it is my moral and constitutional duty to serve the people of my constituency. I will continue to uphold this duty as long as I live. However, some media friends have given a different spin to my statements, suggesting otherwise. I do not know why such interpretations are being made.” Chouhan said the party has made him Union agriculture minister and he was working tirelessly to fulfil his responsibilities.

Asserting that the party’s word was sacred and final, the former CM said, “I request my friends in the media not to speculate unnecessarily. Mohan Yadav is the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and we stand firmly with him in working for the development of the state.” Chouhan urged Yadav to leave no stone unturned to make MP prosperous, adding that “meanwhile, I will continue to carry out responsibilities entrusted to me”.

He also asked people to build progressive villages so that the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of a developed India can be achieved. PTI LAL BNM