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MOHAN YADAV’S ELEVATION as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh was the result of years of excellence—in student politics, as chair of the Ujjain Development Authority, then of the state’s tourism board and finally as the state’s higher education minister.

- PUJA AWASTHI

Plus, there was his affability which endeared him to even his opponents. Caste equations also favoured him (other backward castes are more than half the population).

But those who know the state’s politics say there is another backstory to Yadav’s rise. He had once helped Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a tricky legal case.

Now, 11 months into the job, Yadav is a man in a measured hurry. Senior journalist Girija Shankar said there was a “maturity” in Yadav’s functioning which belied the assumption that he, as a surprise pick, was unprepared. An example is the setting up of a delimitation commission to re-examine administrative boundaries, in contrast to the often public pleasing announcement of a new district or tehsil.

Born into an impoverished family, Yadav has never been ashamed of his background and never felt limited by it. He would not think twice before helping out at the small savoury shop run by his father. From boyhood, he exhibited great presence of mind and a thirst for knowledge. He holds degrees in science, law and political science and a doctorate in the last; his thesis was on the perception of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government among mediapersons.

Gopal Krishna Sharma, former professor and head of the department of political science, public administration and human rights at Vikram University, Ujjain, tutored Yadav privately as he pursued his political science degree. Sharma told THE WEEK that he always knew that Yadav was made for greater things. “When he gave his first budget speech, I was amazed at how well he sketched out a road map for the state,” he said. “I want him to achieve in five years what people take decades to do. He will carve out a place for himself at the national level.”