The unlikely CM: Mohan Yadav, MP OBC face, who rose through BJP-RSS ranks

The former education minister, Yadav, who has been associated with the RSS for a long time, thus edged out senior BJP leaders in the CM race. He is a three-time MLA from Ujjain South.

A father of three children, Yadav has a diverse academic background, having secured a range of degrees: BSc, LLB, MA, MBA and PhD.

Yadav has been known as a proponent of Hindutva. He has also been embroiled in various rows in his political career.

During his campaigning for the November polls, Yadav triggered a controversy when he asked the Congress leaders what was their “aaukat” (worth). “The public will send you back to where you came from. You create hindrances in the development work happening in Ujjain. Has your father fed you milk? What is your worth?” he asked them while addressing a rally in Ujjain.

The Congress, including ex-minister Sajjan Singh Verma, had accused Yadav of allegedly influencing the Ujjain Municipal Corporation to change the master plan of the city so that the lands held by his family were turned into residential areas in July 2023. After protests, the Ujjain district administration reverted the use of land measuring almost 150 hectares to the agricultural land from the residential one.

In 2022, the Congress attacked Yadav, alleging that he had “insulted” goddess Sita, after he purportedly compared her life to that of a divorcee. “Sita Mata had so much respect for her husband that she forgot the hardships and prayed for Lord Rama’s life. In today’s era, this is like life after divorce,” Yadav had purportedly said at a public event. He had added that Sita’s return to earth could be called suicide in today’s time.

A PhD in political science, Yadav began his career from student politics when he started off as the co-secretary of the student union of Madhav Science College in 1982, becoming the president of the college in 1984.

Yadav had been a functionary of the RSS’ students wing ABVP in Ujjain and became its national secretary in 1991.

He was the co-area in-charge of the RSS in Ujjain in 1993-95 and became its city in-charge in 1996. Subsequently, he also rose through the BJP Yuva Morcha in the state.

BJP leader Kanwar Patel, who has worked with Yadav, said: “Mohan Yadav ‘s whole family is associated with the RSS. He is a leader who is connected to the ground. But nobody was expecting him to become the CM. This has come as a pleasant surprise to us.”

Yadav had been a member of the working council of Vikram University in Ujjain during 2000-2003. In the 2003 Assembly election, he was set to contest from the Badnagar seat in Ujjain but local BJP workers had protested forcing the party to give the ticket to another candidate. However, this turned out to be a minor setback for Yadav, who was then serving as the city district general secretary of the BJP. In 2004, he became a member of the state BJP working committee.

During 2004-2010, Yadav served as the chairman of the Ujjain Development Authority with the rank of a state minister. Since 2008, he has been the district president of Bharat Scouts and Guides. In 2011-2013, he was appointed the chairman of the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation with the rank of a cabinet minister.

As the education minister in the Chouhan cabinet, Yadav had justified the introduction of chapters based on Hindu epics such as Ramcharitmanas, Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata for undergraduate courses in state colleges under the National Education Policy (NEP) in 2021, stating that “we can bring our glorious history forward, no one should have any issue with it”.

Yadav is the State Wrestling Association chief and the State Olympic Association vice-president. He also has a keen interest in stick fighting and swordsmanship.