Mohan Yadav takes oath as Madhya Pradesh chief minister; PM Modi, Shah present

Mohan Yadav on Wednesday took oath as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and other dignitaries. Jagdish Devda and Rajendra Shukla were also sworn in as deputy chief ministers.

58-year-old Mohan Yadav visited a temple in Bhopal before going for the oath ceremony. He also went to the state BJP office to pay respects to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, one of the founding members of the Jana Sangh, and BJP’s founding ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

The BJP on Monday ended days of suspense and announced Yadav as the new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh after he was elected unanimously as the BJP legislative party leader. Hailing from the other backward classes (OBC) community, Yadav was earlier a minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.

The OBCs account for more than 48 per cent of Madhya Pradesh’s population and form the core voter base for the saffron party.

Picking Yadav’s name denied party stalwart Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who dominated the state’s politics for close to two decades, to continue holding the top post for a record fifth term.

Besides holding PhD, LLB and MBA degrees, Yadav is also known to possess sword-fighting skills.