 "Mohan Yadav, madhya pradesh chief minister")
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has picked Mohan Yadav, a three-time MLA from temple town Ujjain, as the new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, succeeding Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who served a record four terms in office.
Chouhan reportedly proposed the name of Yadav for the top post, giving Madhya Pradesh its fourth Other Backward Class (OBC) chief minister in two decades, a development crucial before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Yadav, who was not seen as among the contenders for the chief ministerial post, is considered to be close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and hails from the OBC community, which accounts for more than 48 per cent of the state's population.
Here's everything you need to know about Madhya Pradesh's new Chief Minister, Mohan Yadav:
Name: Mohan Poonamchand Yadav
Date of Birth: March 25, 1965
Birthplace: Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
Education: PhD, LLB and MBA
Spouse: Seema Yadav
Children: 3 (2 sons, 1 daughter)
Education
Mohan Yadav has a diverse academic background, having earned a BSc, LLB, MA, MBA, and PhD. He has a doctorate from Vikram University in Ujjain, as well as a bachelor's degree in law.
The politician-businessman began his political career as a college student leader. Yadav was also the Minister of Higher Education in Shivraj Singh Chouhan's government.
Political career
1982: Mohan Yadav started his political career as joint secretary of Madhav Science College Ujjain in 1982.
1984: He was elected as the president of Madhav Science College Ujjain.
1991: Yadav had been a functionary of the RSS' students wing ABVP in Ujjain and became its national secretary in 1991.
1993-1995: He has been associated with the RSS since his young days and from 1993 to 1995, he was RSS functionary in Ujjain city.
1998: He was also made a member of the Western Railway Board advisory committee.
2000-2003: Yadav was made a member of the executive committee of Vikram University, Ujjain.
2011-13: He served as chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC).
2013: Mohan Yadav was elected as an MLA from Ujjain South for the first time.
2018: He retained the Ujjain South Assembly seat in 2018 by defeating Congress' Chetan Yadav.
2023: In the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly election, Yadav won by a margin of 12,941 votes against Congress's Chetan Premnarayan Yadav and defended his seat in the Ujjain South constituency.
The victory marked his third consecutive term as an MLA. He was later made the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
All you need to know about Mohan Yadav
- Mohan Yadav, 58, is a close associate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and a vociferous Hindutva activist.
- Yadav's political clout in the state was cemented when he was appointed to the state cabinet in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government on July 2, 2020, following the collapse of the Congress government led by Kamal Nath.
- Yadav had announced in 2021 that the lessons of the Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas would be included as an elective (optional) course under the philosophy subject for first-year BA students.
- He had also moved a proposal to rename the Hindi nomenclature of the vice-chancellor's post in state universities from 'Kulpati' to 'Kulguru'.
- Yadav is the first leader to become chief minister from the temple town of Ujjain where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dedicated the newly-constructed Mahakal Lok corridor last year.
