Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will arrive in the state capital Bhopal on Sunday on his first visit after becoming the Union Agriculture Minister.
Chouhan had assumed charge of Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new Cabinet on June 11. He has also been given the charge of the Ministry of Rural Development. The senior BJP leader became the Union cabinet minister for the first time in his more than three-decade-long political career.
Bharatiya Janata Party along with several social and employee organisations has made preparations for his grand welcome at more than 65 places in Bhopal.
Chauhan will leave Delhi in the morning and reach Bhopal station by Shatabdi Express at 2:15 pm today, where he will be welcomed by BJP workers and supporters. During the journey by Shatabdi Express, local BJP workers will give a grand welcome to Chouhan at Morena, Gwalior and Bina stations of the state, the party said in a release.
Chauhan will be welcomed by Bhopal BJP workers on platform number 1 of Bhopal railway station. Minister Vishwas Sarang on the 80 feet road from Bajaria, Vidisha MLA Mukesh Tandon on the overbridge, BJP Minority Morcha between Musafir Khana and Masjid, and the Sikh community in the vegetable market.
Kurwai MLA Harisingh Sapre, Minister Karan Singh Verma, and Durgesh Soni of Swarn Samaj will also welcome Chouhan.
Chouhan will also receive a welcome from Sironj MLA Umakant Sharma, Jagdis Yadav of the State Teachers Association, former minister of PWD and Law Rampal Singh and the Gurjar community of Madhya Pradesh.
Bhojpur MLA Surendra Patwa, State Ministers Krishna Gaur, and Dharmendra Lodhi, Gaya Prasad Keer of Keer Samaj and Rajaram Shivhare of Kalar Samaj will also welcome former Madhya Pradesh CM.
Notably, Chouhan had emerged victorious from Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha Lok Sabha seat and had defeated Congress’ Pratapbhanu Sharma with a margin of 8,21,408 votes.
A six-time MP, Chouhan has vast administrative experience and was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from 2005 until the 2023 state assembly elections, except for 15 months when the Congress came to power after the 2018 assembly polls.
A day before, Chouhan reviewed the preparation of the Kharif crop season and stressed the need to ensure the timely availability of fertilisers, seeds, and pesticides for the ensuing Kharif season in a review meeting.
After reviewing the preparedness for the Kharif season 2024 with officials of various departments, Chouhan directed them to ensure the timely distribution and quality supply of input materials for the crops.
He said any bottleneck in the supply chain delays the sowing, hence affecting production, and should be avoided at all costs.
The minister instructed the concerned department to constantly monitor and review the situation to avoid any hardships for the farmers.
Chouhan expressed happiness that the prediction for the Southwest monsoon is above normal for this year. Officials from the Department of Fertilisers, the Central Water Commission, and the India Meteorological Department made presentations on the occasion. Secretary, Department for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Manoj Ahuja and senior officials of the Ministry briefed the Minister on the preparedness for the Kharif season.-ANI