Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday resigned as the MLA from his traditional Budhni seat in Madhya Pradesh, days after getting elected to the Lok Sabha from Vidisha in the state.

After submitting his resignation from the assembly membership to the speaker, Chouhan said he will continue to serve the people of Budhni in Sehore district from where he started his political career decades ago.

In a video statement, the BJP veteran said it was a very emotional moment for him to resign from the Budhni seat, which elected him to the assembly 6 times.

“I am feeling very emotional today. I have resigned from the membership of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The people of Budhni reside in every breath of mine. I started my public life from Budhni and people continued to shower me with their love and affection," he noted.

"Since childhood, I took part in agitations in Budhni. Thereafter, I am getting people's love and affection. Serving people is like worshipping God for me. People have given me their blessings and I will continue to serve them,” the former CM stated.

In the 2023 assembly elections, the BJP leader (65) won from Budhni by a margin of more than 1.05 lakh votes.

The four-term CM, before becoming a Union minister for the first time in his long political career, won the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat by a staggering margin of more than 8.21 lakh votes, one of the highest in the country.

On June 9, Chouhan took oath as a Cabinet minister in the new BJP-led NDA government. A day later, he was given the crucial agriculture and rural development portfolios.

Chouhan has won his 6th parliamentary polls from Vidisha, which in the past has been represented by stalwarts like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1991), media baron Ramnath Goenka (1971) and BJP leader late Sushma Swaraj (2009 and 2014).

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