Mohan Yadav sworn in as Madhya Pradesh CM

Mohan Yadav was sworn in as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday (December 13). The 58-year-old leader, the BJP legislature party leader and MLA from Ujjain South, was administered the oath of office by Governor Mangubhai Patel at the Lal Parade Ground in the state capital Bhopal.

Jagdish Devda (MLA from Malhargarh in Mandsaur) and Rajendra Shukla (legislator from Rewa) were sworn in as the deputy chief ministers by the governor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and Yadav's predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan were present at the event.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Nitin Gadkari were also present on the occasion.

Before going for the oath ceremony, Yadav visited a temple in Bhopal.

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.

Asked about his priorities, Yadav told PTI, “We will focus on progress in education, health, employment (sectors) and development in all other areas in the state under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi ji." Yadav, the three-time BJP MLA, is the 19th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.

He is the state's fourth OBC chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2003, after Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur and Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Yadav's appointment as chief minister also marks end of the era of BJP stalwart and four-time CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who dominated the state's politics for close to two decades.

The elevation of Yadav, who was not among contenders for the CM's post, is being seen as a move by the BJP to win over the numerically significant Other Backward Classes (OBC) community in other parts of the country ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due next year.

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

(With agency inputs)