Bhopal, Oct 31 (IANS) Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri arrived at the Raja Bhoj Airport in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal to a warm and enthusiastic reception from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, functionaries and leaders.
Puri, who has been fielded by the BJP as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha by-election from Madhya Pradesh, was greeted on Friday evening by a large gathering of hardworking party karyakartas (workers).
Among those present to welcome him were Madhya Pradesh Minister of State for Medical Education and Public Health and Family Welfare Narendra Shivaji Patel, former State BJP President VD Sharma, and several other senior leaders and party functionaries.
Union Minister Puri, in a post on social media platform X, described the reception as warm and enthusiastic.
He specifically thanked the BJP workers and leaders for the reception upon his arrival in the Madhya Pradesh state capital.
Puri’s visit comes shortly after the BJP’s central election committee cleared his name as the party’s nominee for the November 12 Rajya Sabha bypoll in Madhya Pradesh.
The by-election has been necessitated by the resignation of former Union Minister L. Murugan, who stepped down from the Upper House to focus on organisational work for the party in Tamil Nadu.
Puri’s current term as a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh is due to end on November 25.
A former diplomat and experienced administrator, Hardeep Singh Puri currently holds the Petroleum and Natural Gas portfolio in the Union Cabinet.
The BJP enjoys a comfortable majority in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, which is expected to ensure a smooth passage for its candidate in the bypoll.
Party workers and leaders present at the airport expressed confidence in Puri’s candidature and highlighted the strong organisational support for him in the state.
The presence of senior leaders, including a state Minister and a former State unit chief, showed the importance the Madhya Pradesh BJP is attaching to the by-election and Union Minister Puri’s campaign.
Puri’s arrival marks the beginning of his formal engagement with the party’s state unit ahead of the nomination process and the bypoll.
With the last date for filing nominations approaching, Union Minister Puri is expected to interact with party legislators and functionaries in the coming days.
The enthusiastic welcome at the Raja Bhoj Airport showed the organisational strength of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and the party’s decision to ensure the smooth election of its candidate to the Upper House.
–IANS
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