New MP BJP chief Hemant Khandelwal in action, to begin tour of 3 districts from today

Bhopal, July 3 (IANS) A day after being unanimously elected unopposed as the Madhya Pradesh BJP president in an elaborate function attended by senior party functionaries, Hemant Khandelwal has a series of events lined up on Thursday.

On the very first day of his official schedule as the state BJP chief, Khandelwal will be visiting three districts - Ujjain, Dewas and Sehore, where he will attend various programmes, according to information shared by the party's media department.

Before starting a day-long visit, Khandelwal will be addressing a 'mock Parliament' programme in Bhopal, the ongoing BJP's campaign on 50 years of the Emergency. It would be his first public meeting after taking charge as the state BJP chief on Wednesday.

After addressing the 'mock Parliament' programme at a mall in Bhopal, Khandelwal will leave for Ujjain, where he will offer prayer at the Mahakal temple to seek blessings. He will attend a couple of events at the party's office there.

From Ujjain, Khandelwal will visit Dewas district, and then Sehore district, where he is scheduled to attend programmes organised by district units of the BJP.

On Wednesday, addressing a packed gathering of party workers and senior leaders at the BJP’s state headquarters in Bhopal, Khandelwal recounted how his grandfather had defeated the Congress in 1930 to form the “Gareeb Dal” and became president of the Nagar Palika. His granduncle, G.D. Khandelwal, served as a minister in the constitutional government, while his father, Vijay Kumar Khandelwal, was a four-time Member of Parliament and held the post of BJP treasurer for over a decade.

“I do not claim any special qualification,” he said with humility. “I am an ordinary karyakarta. This is the Bharatiya Janata Party -- a party that assigns responsibility based on merit and dedication,” he said.

He went on to underscore the party’s internal cohesion, stating, “There is discipline in our party. Such big elections are held, and all the prominent people file the same nomination. I challenge the Congress -- if you can conduct even your ward elections with this level of unity, we will respect you.”

--IANS

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