BJPs BIG Surprise In Madhya Pradesh: Mohan Yadav Is New Chief Minister; Narendra Tomar To Be Speaker

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP sprung a surprise by electing Ujjain Dakshin MLA Mohan Yadav as the successor of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Yadav was higher education minister in the Shivraj Singh cabinet. Yadav’s name was nowhere in the race of the CM probables and emerged as a dark horse in the state where the BJP secured a massive mandate in the recently held assembly elections. Yadav comes from the OBC class. 

The decision to make Mohan Yadav as the CM was taken during BJP legislative party meeting held in Bhopal this evening. The MLAs picked their Chief Minister eight days after the results of the assembly polls were announced. Mohan Yadav will have two Deputy Chief Ministers. Rewa MLA Rajendra Shula and Malhargarh MLA Jagdish Devda have been made Deputy Chief Ministers. Former Union Minsiter and now an MLA from Dimni, Narendra Tomar has been selected as the speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly. 

The meeting of the BJP legislative party was held in the presence of the three central observers – Manohar Lal Khattar, Dr K Laxman and Asha Lakra. Ahead of the BJP legislative party meeting, a photo session of newly elected MLAs along with the central observers was held.  

Reacting to him being elected the leader of the legislative party, Mohan Yadav said, “I am a small worker of the party. I thank all of you, the state leadership and the central leadership. With your love and support, I will try to fulfil my responsibilities.”

The decision comes amid the BJP’s strategy to set its caste equations right ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be seeking a third straight term. 

Before today’s announcement, some key leaders who were said to be among the CM contenders included former Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, BJP state chief VD Sharma and Kailash Vijayvargiya. Tomar resigned as an MP after winning the assembly polls from the Dimani seat. Prahlad Patel, who also resigned as an MP, won from the Narsingpur seat while Vijayvargiya won from the Indore-1 seat. 

Yesterday, BJP MLA Kailash Vijayvargiya met incumbent CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the Chief Minister’s residence in Bhopal sparking speculation about his candidature.

Madhya Pradesh went to poll for 230 assembly seats in a single phase on November 17 and the counting of votes was done on December 3. The BJP, which had been battling close to 20 years of incumbency in the state, won a resounding mandate, bagging 163 seats, while the Congress finished a distant second at 66 seats.