Hemant Khandelwal set to become new BJP state prez unopposed

Bhopal: Hemant Khandelwal, a two-time MLA and former MP from Betul, is all set to become the next Madhya Pradesh state BJP president unopposed on Tuesday. Khandelwal, 60, emerged as the sole nominee, surpassing other senior party members.

He will succeed VD Sharma, the outgoing MP from Khajuraho, who served a five-and-a-half-year term as the state party president.

Khandelwal, known for maintaining a low profile, was selected by chief minister Mohan Yadav as the party's candidate for the state presidency. His nomination received support from several BJP leaders, including former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Virendra Kumar Khatik, outgoing state BJP chief VD Sharma, and deputy chief minister Rajendra Shukla, who was also a contender for the position.

During the nomination filing at the party office, chief minister Yadav escorted Khandelwal to the dais. Khandelwal filed his nomination in the presence of party organizational in-charge and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, observer Saroj Pandey, and electoral officer Vivek Shejwalkar. With no second nomination, Khandelwal is likely to be elected unopposed. A meeting of the 379-member electoral college, including 163 MLAs, 29 MPs, district BJP presidents, and select office-bearers, is scheduled for 10:30 am on Wednesday to make the official announcement.

Chief minister Mohan Yadav stated, "Madhya Pradesh has made its contribution towards making BJP the world's biggest party. We first won the municipalities, municipal corporations, assembly and Lok Sabha seats and even the first BJP Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was also from Madhya Pradesh. From Kushabhau Thakre to Pyarelal Khandelwal, our patriarchs have given such good training to our workers that today even our organizational elections are such that they set an example for other political parties. We have filled the nomination papers according to our rules. The official announcement will be made on Wednesday."

Despite the apparent smoothness of the election, there were complications. Minister for urban administration Kailash Vijayvargiya and former home minister Narottam Mishra, both aligned with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and potential candidates for the state presidency, were notably absent from the nomination filing event at the party headquarters.

Khandelwal met with CM Mohan Yadav at his official residence around 9:30 am on Tuesday, solidifying expectations of his appointment as the next state party chief. However, later that day, Khandelwal's name was initially omitted from the list of voters for the electoral college, causing confusion. Election officer Vivek Shejwalkar announced that a new list would be prepared, referencing the party Constitution and confirming that any active member could contest the election for state president.

The BJP high-command's approval of Hemant Khandelwal minimizes potential conflicts between the party organisation and the state govt led by Mohan Yadav. Khandelwal is recognized as a soft-spoken and amiable individual closely associated with the Chief Minister. His father, Vijay Khandelwal, was a founding member of the BJP and served as MP from the Betul Parliamentary constituency from 1996 to 2004.

Hemant Khandelwal hails from a family with longstanding ties to the RSS. Following his father Vijay Khandelwal's death in 2008, Hemant secured the BJP's ticket for the subsequent bypolls, which he won. After the delimitation of the Betul Lok Sabha constituency, it was reserved for Scheduled Tribes, prompting him to contest from the Betul assembly seat. He won elections in 2013 and 2023 but lost to Congress candidate Vinay Daga in the 2018 assembly elections. Currently, MLA Hemant Khandelwal serves as the chairman of the Kushabhau Thakre Trust and is a former BJP district president in Betul.