BHOPAL: Mohan Yadav, the BJP MLA from Ujjain South, will be the new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, where the saffron outfit has retained power after the just-held assembly polls, party sources said on Monday.
Yadav (58), an OBC leader, was elected as the BJP's legislature party leader in Madhya Pradesh at a meeting in Bhopal held in the evening in the presence of central observers, they said. He was serving as minister for higher education in the outgoing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet.
Springing a surprise, the BJP picked Yadav, an OBC leader and a three-time MLA, as the next chief minister of MP, state party president VD Sharma said.
Outgoing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan proposed the name of Yadav, the BJP MLA from Ujjain South, for the top post at a meeting of the newly-elected legislators held in the evening in Bhopal in the presence of party's central observers, Sharma said.
Yadav, who was not seen as among contenders for the CM post, is considered to be close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is a three-time MLA and a prominent leader of OBCs, who account for more than 48 per cent of the state's population.
He was first elected as an MLA in 2013 from Ujjain South and retained the assembly seat in 2018 and again in 2023.
The BJP legislator was serving as the higher education minister in the outgoing CM Chouhan's cabinet.
With this, the BJP has reposed its faith in OBC leaders for the fourth time since 2003 when Uma Bharti was made the chief minister.
After Bharti, Madhya Pradesh saw two more OBC CMs from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- Babulal Gaur and Chouhan.
Earlier, three central observers of the BJP interacted with party MLAs and core committee members on Monday after reaching Bhopal to decide the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh ahead of the crucial legislative party meeting.
The meeting started at 4 PM.
The central observers, including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, OBC Morcha head K Laxman and secretary Asha Lakra, reached Bhopal by a special plane at around 11.30 am.
A meeting of the core committee was held at the state BJP headquarters where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and senior leaders Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and Kailash Vijaywargiya were present, sources said.
The names of Tomar, Patel and Vijaywargiya were also doing the rounds for the post of chief minister.
Earlier in the day, Khattar, K Laxman and Lakra landed at Bhopal airport in a special plane where they were welcomed by MP BJP chief VD Sharma and other leaders.
From the airport, the three observers headed to the chief minister's residence to meet CM Chouhan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained power in MP following the November 17 polls, winning 163 seats in the 230-member assembly, leaving the Congress a distant second with 66 seats.
The state BJP office was decked up with flowers and posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the slogan "MP ke Man Mein Modi, Desh Ke Man Mein Modi".
In run-up to the polls, the BJP did not project a CM face and relied heavily on the mass appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who campaigned extensively in the state.
Yadav will succeed Chouhan (64), a four-time CM who took office in 2005, 2008, 2013 and 2020 and was the BJP's longest serving chief minister.
Narendra Singh Tomar to be speaker of MP assembly; state to have two deputy CMs .
The BJP on Monday named its senior leader Narendra Singh Tomar as the new speaker of the Madhya Pradesh assembly, party leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.
The state will have two deputy chief ministers- Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Devda, the outgoing chief minister posted on X.
At the legislature party meeting held here in the evening, the BJP elected Mohan Yadav as its leader, paving the way for him to take over as the next chief minister.