Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that there is no need for the BJP to project anyone as the prime ministerial candidate as of now for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
"There are many capable leaders in the party and when the time comes any one of them can become the Prime Minister," Chouhan told a news agency in an interview.
Asked who will make the best prime ministerial nominee, Chouhan said he had "no view on this" and added that he will go by the party`s thinking in the matter.
He also said that there is no need for BJP president Nitin Gadkari to resign following charges of corruption levelled against him.
"Charges are levelled against many leaders and if someone resigns only because allegations have been made against him, nobody would be left," he expressed.
He also said that charges against Gadkari have not affected the intensity of the BJP`s fight against corruption in Congress.
Chouhan said he is confident that BJP would win next year`s state Assembly elections as the people of Madhya Pradesh are with the party because of the welfare work done by the government. To a question, Chouhan said he does not think of himself as a "national leader" but an "ordinary worker" whose task is limited to Madhya Pradesh alone.
In contrast, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and many others can be described as national leaders, he added.
Terming himself as an "introvert", Chouhan also said he does not believe in talking about his work and rather let the work speak for itself.
"I am firmly of the opinion that there is not much need to talk about the work one does as it alone speaks for itself," he said.
The Chief Minister said he wanted to work only for the progress and development of Madhya Pradesh and pointed out that his main aim was to bring a smile on the faces of the 7.5 crore population in the state.
If one goes by figures, agricultural growth rate in the state was 18 percent and the development rate was 10.2 percent, he said.
Earlier, irrigation used to be done on 7,000 hectares which has now gone up to 21,000 hectares, he said, adding that by the next year this will reach 24,000 hectares.
He said his government aims to provide electricity round-the-clock to the districts from January one and a beginning to this effect would be made in some districts from the date.
PTI
