A special welcome by wife was waiting for former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at home as his name figured on the BJP's first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. His wife, Sadhna Singh, greeted him at their home's doorstep, applied tilak on his forehead and garlanded him.
She also performed 'aarti' - a ritual of welcoming guests by offering blessings - and touched his feet.
The BJP's first list of 24 candidates for Madhya Pradesh featured Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, while Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur was replaced by another candidate.
"I am grateful to the central leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, BJP chief JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit (Shah) ji and Defence Minister Rajnath (Singh) ji," Mr Chouhan told NDTV.
The 64-year-old, who led the BJP to victory in the last year's assembly elections yet was replaced by Mohan Yadav as Chief Minister, would be contesting the Lok Sabha elections after a gap of nearly 20 years.
Commenting on the new role assigned to him, he said, "The BJP is like my mother, my mission. Whatever role was given to me, I will fulfill it with dedication".
He also insisted that there was "no if" on his chances in the upcoming polls.
Mr Chouhan asserted that the "roadmap for Vidisha is ready": "I am very close to the people of Vidisha, we are like family. The roadmap for Vidisha is ready".
"The BJP will win all 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh and the state will put 29 garlands on PM Modi," he added.
Mr Chouhan represented Vidisha - a seat represented by BJP stalwarts like late Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1991) and Sushma Swaraj (2009 and 2014), and newspaper publisher Ramnath Goenka (1971) - five times before becoming Chief Minister in November 2005. He is currently MLA from the Budhni assembly segment which falls under the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat.
He also praised the candidates' list, terming it "balanced". "It's a balanced list with youth, women, people from all walks of life on it," said the senior BJP leader.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, 53, was fielded from Guna Lok Sabha seat, where he, as a Congress candidate, lost to BJP's KP Singh Yadav in 2019.
The BJP is yet to announce its candidate from Chhindwara. There was speculation until a few days ago about Congress veteran Kamal Nath and his son and sitting MP Nakul Nath planning to switch sides. The Naths, however, denied that they would be joining the BJP.
Union ministers Faggan Singh Kulaste and Virendra Singh Khatik were fielded from their current constituencies and Alok Sharma, a former mayor, from Bhopal was fielded in place of sitting MP Pragya Singh Thakur who is an accused in the Malegaon blast case and who has sparked several controversies due to her statements.
In 2019, the BJP had won 28 out of 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh. The party on Saturday announced new candidates for 11 seats while repeating 13 sitting MPs in its list of 24.
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