ABVP leader to CM: Yadav rises up the ranks in BJP to helm MP

Mohan Yadav, 58, may have been a surprise pick as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh-his name did not even find a mention among the hopefuls being speculated upon - but there's no denying his credentials.

- Shruti Tomar

A student leader for the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the RSS's student wing in the early 1980s, when just out of his teens; city president of the RSS in Ujjain by the mid1990s, and then of the BJP by 2003; a first-time legislator in 2013 (he has won all three elections he contested, including that year's); state education minister in 2020; and now, chief minister.

His commitment to the BJP's core ideology, administrative and political experience, and the fact that he belongs to another backward class (OBC), a group that is a key constituent of the BJP's rainbow Hindu coalition, has made Yadav the man tasked with leading Madhya Pradesh, replacing the three-term incumbent Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

A BJP leader claimed that within the party, Yadav had been discussed as a potential leader even three years previously. "In 2020 and 2021, there was much talk of a generational shift and a change of guard. Within the party, Yadav had been spoken of, for three reasons. The first was that he was backed by the RSS, (the second) that he was an OBC leader, and (the third) that he was considered close to Shivraj Singh Chouhan whose opposition would then be muted," this person added, asking not to be named. Chouhan himself is 64, not considered old in Indian politics.