Shivraj Singh Chouhan quits post of Madhya Pradesh CM

Bhopal: Taking responsibility for the Bharatiya Janata Party's defeat in Madhya Pradesh's 15th  Assembly elections, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday submitted his resignation to Governor Anandiben Patel here.

Mr Chouhan reached the Raj Bhavan at about 1115 hrs.I am free now, bow my head to the sheer force of numbers and am solely responsible for the BJP's debacle, he later told the press outside.

A saffron party dispensation was formed in the state in 2003 under Ms Uma Bharati. She was succeeded by Mr Babulal Gaur in 2004. The following year, political circumstances compelled Mr Gaur also to bow out of office; Mr Chouhan assumed the mantle and went on to become the personage who occupied that post for the longest period in the state's political history.(UNI)