Union Home Minister Amit Shah has ducked the question on naming the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. Shah was in Bhopal to present the state's report card.

Shah said, "Why are you getting into what the job of the party is? That's the job of our party, we will decide."

In fact, the mega press conference hall had a number of standees with the prime minister’s face rather than that of CM Chouhan's. The message was clear that the election will be fought in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

One of the reasons behind the move is anti-incumbency as the BJP is ruling the state for 17 years. Also, the BJP lost 2018 state polls to Congress. It formed the government after two years when Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia parted ways with Congress along with his loyalists.

Another reason is the factionalist within the state unit of the BJP belonging to Chouhan, state BJP president VD Sharma, Scindia among others. Modi will keep the unit intact as needed ahead of the polls.

The third reason is Modi's approval rating is still high. The BJP is looking at using its trump card as the result will have a bearing on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Modi will address as many rallies in the state which will go to polls later this year along with Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram.