Meeting of BJP legislature party in Madhya Pradesh on Monday; Shivraj Singh Chouhan may return as Chief Minister

Bhopal: The BJP is likely to hold a meeting of its legislature party in Madhya Pradesh on March 23, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan tipped to return as Chief Minister, said a report published by The Hindu.
“The delay after Congress leader Kamal Nath’s resignation as Chief Minister on March 20 was because of the “janata curfew” announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for March 22,” said the report.
“The Janata Curfew is an important part of trying to get the country to take the threat of the novel coronavirus seriously, and we want no public meetings, etc. Also, the 22 MLAs arrived in Delhi from Bengaluru today [Saturday] and met BJP president J.P. Nadda along with former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. They need to be reassured with regard to their future,” said a senior central leader of the BJP.
Later, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said the 22 rebel Congress MLAs had joined the BJP.
Chouhan, after much speculation, is considered the front runner for the post of Chief Minister.
“There are 25 bypolls to be fought going ahead, as there were already two seats vacant in the Assembly and the resignation of BJP MLA Sharad Kol along with the 22 Congress rebel MLAs. Shivraj [Singh Chouhan] is the man most capable of steering us through that challenge,” the source said.
While this is more or less decided, party leaders said Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s name is also doing the rounds.
“Most of the important meetings with regard to the developments in Madhya Pradesh were held in Mr. Tomar’s house in New Delhi,” said the source.
With COVID-19 and Madhya Pradesh registering its first case on Friday, an experienced hand at the helm is required, the source added.