This time, with the efforts of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the name of BJP’s district president Alok Sharma is almost final as party nominee for the post of Mayor in Bhopal, in the upcoming municipal corporation election scheduled on January 31.

 Party sources claim that the party legislators were still not in faovur of fielding Alok Sharma as party candidate in the municipal polls, but the Chief Minister took this as a challenge and lobbied in his favour. Chouhan personally talked to all the five party legislators and took them into confidence that this time there should be nothing against Sharma, as he wished him to be fielded as mayor candidate.

This is probably for the first time that the Chief Minister himself came in front openly for Alok Sharma, who is considered quite close to Shivraj Singh Chouhan during his early days in politics. Sources claim that during the lok Sabha elections too, Chouhan had wished that Sharma should be fielded from Bhopal and he was a strong claimant for the ticket. However, at the eleventh hour, name of Alok Sanjar was finalised. Since, former parliamentarian Kailash Joshi had agreed to quit his claim for the ticket, he did not agree on the name of Sharma and finally consensus was made on Sanjar. That time too, Alok Sharma had agreed on the direct question of the Chief Minister, whether he wanted Shivraj or the party ticket for lok Sabha.

Alok Sharma has once in the year 2008 contested assembly election from Bhopal North constituency against Congress MlA Arif Aqeel and lost the election. Since, then Sharma is not in good terms with few local leaders as he felt that they had hatched conspiracy against him in the elections. This time, leaving all speculations aside, Chouhan during a public meeting declared Sharma as party  candidate for Mayor’s post. Besides, he accompanied Sharma in all the public meetings he recently addressed in Bhopal.