‘Able administrator’, ‘OBC leader’ Mohan Yadav is BJP’s pick for Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister

According to Rakesh Singh, the MLA from Jabalpur, it was in fact Chouhan who “kept this proposal for the CM name”.

“He (Yadav) is an able administrator. We expect him to carry forward the party’s development policies. The BJP has asked me to be a state legislator; I will fulfil my duties. I was never in the race myself,” Singh said.

Yadav, an OBC leader, was elected at a meeting in Bhopal held in the evening in presence of central observers, the BJP said.

“This is for new energy, new hope, new development. In the new India that Modi ji is working for, Madhya Pradesh will lead as a model. The state under new leadership will fulfil his dreams,” BJP general secretary and party MLA Kailash Vijayvargiya told The Indian Express.

“We are very happy with this decision. He comes from the OBC background. This is a moment of pride; he is connected to the ground. We all come from Ujjain and are extremely hopeful he will take the state to new heights,” MLA Govind Singh Rajput said.

A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Ujjain for three terms, Yadav served as the education minister in the government under Chouhan.

According to the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha website, he holds a degree in law and has an MBA and a PhD. He was awarded by the President of India in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 for promoting tourism in the state.

Yadav’s rise began with the ABVP. In 1982, he became the co-secretary of the student union of Madhav Science College, and became the president in 1984. The same year, he took charge as the city minister of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Ujjain, and became the department head in 1986.

In 1988, he was the co-minister of the ABVP’s Madhya Pradesh unit, and a member of the national executive. In 1989-90, he became the minister of the unit, and in 1991-92, the national minister. In 1993-95, he was the co-area in-charge of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Ujjain city, while 1997, he was a member of the BJP Yuva Morcha’s Madhya Pradesh working committee.

In 1998, he was a member of the advisory committee of the Western Railway Board. The following year, he was the in-charge of the BJP Yuva Morcha’s Ujjain division. In 2000-2003, he was a member of the working council of Vikram University, Ujjain.

In 2000-2003, he was the city district general secretary of the BJP, and in 2004, he was a member of the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh working committee. The same year, he became a member of the central committee of Singhsthan, Madhya Pradesh. Between 2004 and 2010, he was the chairman of the Ujjain Development Authority (with the rank of state minister).

Since 2008, he has been the district president of Bharat Scouts and Guides. In 2011-2013, he was the chairman of the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation, Bhopal (with the rank of cabinet minister). He is a member of the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh working committee. In 2013-2016, he was the co-convener of the Akhil Bharatiya Sanskritik Prakoshth of the BJP.