BHOPAL: The fourth OBC CM of the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh in the last 20 years, Dr Mohan Yadav, hails from Abdalpura locality of the state’s temple city, Ujjain. Considered to have a strong RSS backing, Yadav is believed to be close to senior RSS functionary Suresh Soni.
The state’s higher education minister, before becoming the chief minister, Dr Yadav, was born in 1965 and started his political career with RSS’s student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in native Ujjain city during early 1980s.
Holding B.Sc, LLB, MA (Political Science), MBA and PhD (Political Science) degrees, Dr Mohan Yadav started political career in 1982, when he became the co-secretary of Ujjain’s Madhav Science College Student Union. Two years later he was elected the president of the same student union, when he also served as the city unit secretary of ABVP in Ujjain. In 1988, he was appointed the state co-secretary and member of ABVP national executive, before serving as state secretary of ABVP in 1989-90.
Importantly, the science graduate, arts post graduate and MBA holder Yadav, completed PhD in Political Science while being an MLA for the first time from Ujjain Dakshi seat in 2014. Considered close to senior RSS functionary Suresh Soni, he became the national ABVP secretary in 1991-92, between 1993 and 1995, he held the position of RSS Ujjain City’s Kshetra Pracharak.
In 2003, when Uma Bharti led the BJP to a massive win in the state, Yadav was given the party ticket from Badnagar seat of Ujjain district, but owing to protest over him being an outsider, Yadav had returned the party ticket from the seat.
After the Uma Bharti-led BJP returned to power in MP in 2003, Yadav served as the head of Ujjain Development Authority twice between 2004 and 2010. He served as the chairman of MP Tourism Development Corporation between 2011 and 2013.
In November 2013, Yadav won his first Vidhan Sabha election from Ujjain Dakshin seat by 13,000-plus votes and retained the seat five years later by a margin of just 5381 votes in the 2018 elections. He was sworn in as state’s minister of higher education in 2020. He retained the Ujjain Dakshin seat for the second time, by defeating Congress candidate Chetan Yadav 12,941-plus votes recently.
Yadav’s elder sister Kalavati Yadav is the fifth time sitting municipal councilor and the current chairperson of Ujjain Municipal Corporation. This is the second time in 48 years that a legislator from Ujjain district will be MP CM. Prior to it, Congress’s PC Sethi (MLA from Ujjain Uttar seat) was the state’s CM for 3 years between 1972 and 1975. Importantly, Yadav had taken a vow of not entering the Vidhan Sabha premises before being elected an MLA, which he stuck to till winning his first assembly polls in 2013.
