The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday selected Mohan Yadav to be the next Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
Yadav is the BJP MLA from Ujjain South constituency in the Madhya Pradesh assembly. He held the higher education portfolio in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan ministry.
Yadav is a three-time MLA and his name has come as a surprise. He is set to replace Shivraj, who has served four terms as the CM of Madhya Pradesh so far.
Yadav was selected as the Leader of BJP Legislative Party in Madhya Pradesh. The name was finalised after BJP's central observers, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, BJP National Secretary Asha Lakra, and Rajya Sabha MP K Laxman, convened a legislative party meeting with the newly-elected MLAs on Monday.
Yadav will have Jagdisgh Devda and Rajesh Shukla as Deputy Chief Ministers, according to ANI. The agency further reported that Narendra Singh Tomar, who was serving as the Union Agriculture Minister before becoming an MLA in Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, will be the Assembly Speaker.
Following Yadav's selection as the next CM of Madhya Pradesh, visuals surfaced of party leaders congratulating him. Among those congratulating him was Shivraj, the outgoing CM of Madhya Pradesh the saffron party's longtime pointsman in the state.
In remarks following the selection, Yadav called himself a "small worker" of the BJP and thanked the party for picking him. He also said that he would continue the work of the "double-engine government" in the state.
After Yadav was picked as the CM of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj tendered his resignation to Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai C Patel. As per the norms, Shivraj will continue as the Caretaker Chief Minister until the new government is sworn in.
With the selection of Yadav, the BJP appears to be eyeing the other backward classes (OBC) voters ahead of the 2024 general elections, which account for around 48 per cent population of the state. The BJP's rival coalition, INDIA, is also eyeing the OBCs with the push for a caste census and expected hike in caste-based quotas following such a census, as was seen in Bihar where quotas were hiked after the statewide caste survey.
