Springing a major surprise, the BJP on December 11 selected Ujjain-Dakshin (South) MLA Dr. Mohan Yadav as its legislature party leader and the next Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
Apart from Mr. Yadav, who hails from the Other Backward Class (OBC), the new BJP government will also have two deputy CMs — Malhargarh MLA Jagdish Devda, a Dalit, and Rewa MLA Rajendra Shukla, a Brahmin. The OBCs constitute about 52% of the State’s population while there are nearly 17% people from the Scheduled Caste.
Narendra Singh Tomar, who recently resigned as a Union Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament following his victory in the Assembly polls, has been chosen as the next Assembly Speaker.
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Set to become the 19th CM of the State, Mr. Yadav’s name was proposed by the outgoing CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the BJP legislature party meet in Bhopal and supported by senior party leaders and MLAs, including Mr. Tomar, Kailash Vijayvargiya and Prahlad Singh Patel, M.P. BJP president V.D. Sharma said.
The decision was taken in the presence of BJP’s central observers Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, party’s OBC Morcha chief K. Lakshman, and party’s national secretary Asha Lakra.
Following the announcement, Mr. Yadav accompanied by other senior leaders met State Governor Mangubhai Patel and staked claim to form the government. Mr. Chouhan also submitted his resignation to the Governor.
The swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place on or after December 13 when the newly elected Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai will take his oath. M.P. BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said that the final date will be decided based on the confirmation from the Prime Minister.
A three-term MLA from Ujjain-Dakshin, Mr. Yadav will replace Mr. Chouhan as the Madhya Pradesh CM, who has held the top post since 2005 barring the 15-Month period from December 2018 to March 2020 when the Congress was in power in the State.
In the recent State Assembly elections, Mr. Yadav won from his Ujjain Dakshin seat by 12,941 votes. He had won the Assembly seat for the first time in 2013 and also retained it in 2018.
He was currently holding the higher education portfolio in Mr. Chouhan’s incumbent government and has also served as the chairperson of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation from 2011 to 2013, in the rank of a Cabinet Minister.
While Mr. Yadav and Mr. Devda hail from the Malwa-Nimar region, Mr. Shukla hails from the Vindhya region. In the recent State polls, the BJP won a massive 45 seat out of 66 in Malwa-Nimar, improving its tally from 28 in 2018. The BJP once again swept the Vindhya region by winning 25 of 30 seats.
Mr. Devda and Mr. Shukla were also Ministers in the outgoing government holding important portfolios.
Speaking to the media after the announcement, Mr. Yadav thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit and BJP national president J.P. Nadda. He also thanked Mr. Chouhan and M.P. BJP president V.D. Sharma among other State leaders.
“A small worker like me has been given such a huge responsibility. It is only possible in the BJP. This is the BJP’s character. I thank the party for choosing me as the legislature party leader, he said.
“We will carry forward the development works started by PM Modi ji and Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji,” Mr. Yadav added.
Reiterating the BJP’s election campaign slogan “MP ke mann me Modi, Modi ke mann me MP”, Mr. Yadav said that the new government will work as per the Prime Minister’s dream.
The decision also puts an end to days of speculations on various names that had been doing rounds as the BJP’s pick for the CM post. Among those whose names were being speculated were Mr. Chouhan, Mr. Tomar, Mr. Patel, Mr. Sharma, Mr. Vijayvargiya and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Later in the evening, Mr. Yadav also said that his name even came as a surprise to him.
“I was sitting in the back row doing my work and my name came up all of a sudden,” he said, speaking to news agency ANI.
Mr. Chouhan, taking to X, congratulated Mr. Yadav, Mr. Devda, Mr. Shukla and Mr. Tomar on their appointments.
“I am confident that under the able guidance of respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, you will take Madhya Pradesh to new heights of progress and development and will create new records in the field of public welfare. Many congratulations and best wishes for this new responsibility!” Mr. Chouhan said, congratulating Mr. Yadav.
