MP CM-designate Mohan Yadav.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mohan Yadav, the CM-designate of Madhya Pradesh, was in the news yesterday for being picked by the BJP ahead of four-term CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Today, he's in the news again—this time, for swordsmanship.
A viral video doing the rounds on social media shows the CM-designate demonstrating his prowess with a sword. Yadav is slated to take oath on December 13.
The BJP after much deliberation chose the former mayor of Ujjain to step into Shiv Singh Chouhan's shoes. A RSS functionary, speaking on the party choice said, "He has consistently performed, and his work on the Narmada front in Ujjain made him popular, and brought to the fore his leadership capabilities among the party’s bigwigs. He has been fearless and would front protests without complaints."
Yadav beat his Congress rival by a margin of 12,000 votes in the recent assembly elections despite aspersions of corruption from the grand old party.
The new Madhya Pradesh CM-designate, however, has courted controversy in the past with his statements on divorcees, likening their situation to Sita's in the Ramayan. His statements in the 2020 by-poll also saw the saffron party member get a rap from the Election Commission, which had banned him from holding public rallies and processions for a day at the time.
Yadav was first elected as an MLA in 2013, winning from the Ujjain South seat, and between 2011 and 2013, he served as the chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC). In July 2020, he was made the education minister. While he was the education minister, he made the announcement that the Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas would be available as an optional subject in colleges.
Another of his prominent decisions was renaming the position of vice-chancellor state universities from ‘Kulpati’ to ‘Kulguru’. Born and brought up in Ujjain, Yadav holds a doctoral degree from the region’s Vikram University apart from a bachelor's degree in law.
The BJP won a total of 163 seats in Madhya Pradesh, out of a possible 230, retaining power in the state despite Congress's best attempts.
(With DHNS inputs)