Not selecting any of the top leaders in the state who are contemporaries in politics, going for a younger OBC face who will be the only Yadav chief minister in the country presently and comes from the land of the holy Mahakaleshwar temple, and giving a message to workers that anyone from the rank and file can become the CM — the BJP has sent multiple messages through its selection of Mohan Yadav in Madhya Pradesh.
The three-time MLA from the Ujjain (South) seat also has the blessings of outgoing chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who is said to have proposed Yadav’s name to the party leadership as among those who can replace him. Yadav, 58, is among the most educated MLAs in the state, holding a PhD, and was the higher education minister in the Shivraj Chouhan government. The Ujjain (South) seat is also home to the Jyotirlinga Mahakaleshwar temple where the grand Mahakal corridor was made last year and is a major centre of religion and Hinduism in Madhya Pradesh. Yadav also has been seen as close to the RSS in the state. Not many, however, had anticipated his meteoric rise.
“All of us have supported Mohan Yadav’s name. All names that were speculated were only in the media, they were not names by the party. Shivraj Singh Chouhan recommended Yadav’s name as CM and we all supported it. Shivraj is a senior leader and I am sure the party will utilise his ability suitably,” senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya told News18. “This is new India and new Madhya Pradesh, so young leaders have to come ahead…under Narendra Modi, the vision is to make a stronger country and so the MP has to play an important role in that. So new people have been given a chance.” He also said that it was a good decision by the party to make a senior leader like Narendra Singh Tomar the speaker, to bring a balance as a young leader has been made the chief minister.