'No chance': Union minister dismisses speculations of leadership change in MP over alleged Covid mismanagement

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday dismissed speculation that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to replace chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh. "In Madhya Pradesh, BJP has a permanent government and there is no chance of any change in the leadership," the agriculture minister was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

When asked about the comments being made by some Congress politicians about leadership change in the state over alleged Covid-19 mismanagement, Tomar said, "There is a BJP government in MP and it will decide who will be its chief minister. The party has already decided that Chouhan is a chief minister...Congress has no right to talk about the BJP's CM," the news agency further quoted the central minister as saying.

"Madhya Pradesh government is handling the Covid-19 situation properly," he added.

Earlier on Monday, BJP's general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya rejected the rumours and said Madhya Pradesh will continue to run under the leadership of Chouhan.

The BJP took over Madhya Pradesh in March 2020 under Chouhan's leadership after the Congress government led by Kamal Nath collapsed.

A series of meetings among senior BJP leaders including the one between Vijayvargiya and state home minister Narottam Mishra led to speculation about the change in leadership i Madhya Pradesh which battled the worst wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, after nearly two months, the situation in Madhya Pradesh seems to be improving as the state maintained a positivity rate of less than 1% for the last seven consecutive days. Experts have said that the rate of Covid-19 infection has come down due to the lockdown and people's cooperation.

On Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh reported 535 Covid-19 cases and 36 deaths, taking the state's tally to 7,86,302 and the toll to 8,405, the health department said. A total of six out of 52 districts recorded no case during the past 24 hours, the data by health department also showed.