Springing one of the biggest surprises in recent electoral history, the BJP legislative party in Madhya Pradesh elected Mohan Yadav - former higher education minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet – as the new chief minister.
The 58-year-old Yadav has been elected an MLA from Ujjain South constituency for the third time in the recently concluded assembly polls and his name was nowhere even on margins of speculative discussions on chief ministerial face for Madhya Pradesh.
That his name was decided by the top leadership before the legislative party was asked to stamp an approval, is apparent.
Meanwhile, eight-time MLA and former finance minister Jagdish Devda who represents the scheduled caste reserved Malhargarh constituency in Mandsaur and five-time MLA and ex-public relations minister Rajendra Shukla – a Brahmin leader who represents Rewa constituency in crucial Vindhya region – have been named as deputy CMs.
Former Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar has been named as the assembly speaker candidate for the party – a post that the BJP is expected to win easily even if there is an election for the post when the house is in session.
Through these names, the BJP has tried to balance out crucial caste elements like OBCs who constitute the highest population in the state, the scheduled caste and the general category people. Both Shukla and Tomar (Rajput) belong to the general category. Now, whether the BJP will make a tribal leader its state president to further balance out things remains to be seen. As the current president V.D. Sharma is also a Brahmin, a change of face is likely before the Lok Sabha polls, political watchers say.
Also the future role of ex-chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the most popular leader in the state, will be interesting to watch out for, political commentators say. Chouhan was the one to propose the name of Yadav for the post of leader of the legislative party, but such formal actions are part of the script finalized by top leaders of the party.
Yadav close to RSS
Yadav, an OBC leader, is a well known Hindutva face in the crucial Malwa-Nimar region that is a BJP stronghold and is considered close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He has actively taken steps to introduce saffron elements in the higher education syllabus in the state. Chapters based on religious texts and epics such as Ramcharitmanas, Bhagwad Gita and Mahabharata were introduced for undergraduate courses in colleges of the state under the National Education Policy (NEP) in 2021. Yadav had defended the move saying there was nothing wrong in introducing young students to the culture of the country.
Also read: 'Want to serve people till my last breath': Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Has courted controversies
A PhD degree holder in political science from Ujjain University, Yadav has risen to the top post from being a students’ leader associated with the RSS-affiliate Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in early 1980s. He was first elected from Ujjain South in 2013 and, during his second term as MLA, was made the higher education minister of Shivraj Singh Chouhan ministry in 2020.
Yadav is not bereft of controversy and the latest was an allegation that he had influenced the Ujjain Municipal Corporation to change the master plan of the city so that the lands held by his family were turned into residential areas and out of the Simhastha utility ambit. After a huge controversy and protests by ascetics, then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan intervened to get the master plan reverted and a land of 150 hectares was again declared as agriculture, so that it could be used for Simhastha purposes.
During campaigning in November, Yadav again courted controversy when he raised the ‘aukat’ (worth) of Congress leaders and even asked whether they had drunk milk from their father. He warned the Congress leaders and workers that they would be shown their true place soon. Later, Yadav said that it was not in his character to belittle people and his remarks should not be construed as personal but only as part of the campaigning.
