New Delhi: Rajendra Shukla, a five-time MLA from Rewa constituency, has been appointed because the Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh together with Jagdish Devda by the BJP. The choice comes as a recognition of Shukla’s contribution in consolidating the celebration’s base within the Vindhya area, which was as soon as a Congress stronghold.
Shukla (59), who has an engineering background, has emerged as a outstanding Brahmin chief within the area within the final 15 years. He has challenged the affect of former Congress stalwarts like (late) Arjun Singh and (late) Sriniwas Tiwari, who dominated the area till 2013.
Within the current Meeting elections, BJP gained 25 out of 30 seats within the area, enhancing its tally from 24 seats in 2018. Shukla expressed his confidence within the celebration’s efficiency within the area earlier than his identify was introduced for the Deputy CM publish.
“In 2018, BJP had gained 24 seats from Vindhya area; due to this fact, I had full confidence that we’ll repeat the identical end result. When the outcomes got here, the quantity went up from 24 to 25,” he instructed IANS.
Shukla’s rise within the celebration was not with out obstacles. He confronted opposition from a few of his personal celebration leaders, who tried to undermine him by bringing again his political rival Abhay Mishra into the BJP fold. Nonetheless, Mishra later rejoined the Congress and gained the election from Semaria seat of Rewa district, defeating Shukla’s loyalist Ok.P. Tripathi.
Shukla, nevertheless, remained a key member of the state BJP’s core committee, even when he was not included in Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cupboard. He was the one MLA within the core committee, whereas the remaining have been both state or Union ministers or Rajya Sabha MPs. Shukla, a soft-spoken politician, earned reputation as a result of growth works he initiated in Rewa previously twenty years. He was instrumental in bringing an airport and the nation’s largest photo voltaic undertaking to Rewa, when he was the vitality minister in Chouhan’s cupboard.
Shukla started his political profession throughout his faculty days and have become the president of Authorities Engineering Faculty Scholar Union in 1986. He contested his first Meeting election in 1998, however misplaced to Congress candidate Pushparaj Singh by a slender margin of 1,394 votes. He avenged his defeat in 2003, when he defeated Pushparaj Singh and entered the Meeting for the primary time. Since then, he has remained undefeated.
