Three-time MLA Mohan Yadav was on Monday named as the new Madhya Pradesh chief minister,succeeding four-time CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed back to power in the state and wrested it from the Congress in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The announcement is the second in the three states. Yadav, MLA from Ujjain, was the higher education minister in the previous state cabinet led by outgoing chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Yadav was picked for the top post at a BJP legislature party meeting held in Bhopal 10 days after the election results were announced. His predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan earlier maintained that he was not in the race for the chief minister’s post. The BJP contested the 2023 assembly elections without a chief ministerial candidate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the campaign.
Outgoing finance minister and two-time MLA from Mandsaur, Jagdish Devda, and outgoing public relation minister MLA from Rewa, Rajendra Shukla, have been elected as the deputy chief ministers. Former union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar has been elected as the Speaker of the MP assembly.
In the assembly of 230 members, the BJP won 163 seats while the Congress won only 66 seats in the election held on November 17. The results were announced on December 3.
In Monday’s meeting, BJP observers including Haryana chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, OBC Morcha national president, Dr K Laxman, and national secretary and tribal leader, Asha Lakra, discussed the probable names for the CM’s post with the MLAs.
Earlier, distancing himself from the race for the CM’s post, Chouhan had said, “I will continue to serve the residents of MP as their brother and maternal uncle which is a much higher post.”
PM Modi had held 14 public meetings during the run up to the election and the poll campaign was led by union home minister Amit Shah.
