BJP's Mohan Yadav to be sworn in as Madhya Pradesh CM; PM Modi, Shah to attend

Bhopal, Dec 12 (PTI) Mohan Yadav will take oath as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh here on Wednesday, and the event will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, among others, a party leader said.

Elaborate arrangements are being made for the swearing-in ceremony, where a large number of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, especially from Yadav's hometown Ujjain, will gather, sources close to the chief minister-designate said.

The event will take place at the Lal Parade Ground in the state capital, they said.

Talking to reporters after taking stock of the preparations for the event, state BJP chief Vishnu Dutt Sharma said, "Prime Minister Modi ji, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda, several chief ministers of the BJP-ruled states and central ministers, among others, will attend the oath-taking ceremony." Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will also attend the function, a BJP spokesperson from the state said.

Ending days of suspense, the BJP on Monday picked Yadav as the new chief minister of the state and denied party stalwart Shivraj Singh Chouhan a record fifth term in office.

Yadav (58), a minister in the Chouhan government, was elected unanimously as the BJP legislative party leader during a meeting on Monday.

The state will also have two deputy chief ministers - Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Devda.

However, it is not clear whether they would also take oath along with Yadav or not, the state BJP spokesman said.

Senior BJP leader and newly-elected MLA Narendra Singh Tomar, who was among contenders for the CM's post, will be the new assembly speaker.

Yadav, who was not being seen as a contender for the top post, is considered to be close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and hails from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, which accounts for more than 48 per cent of the state's population.

After he was named as the chief minister-designate on Monday, Yadav met Governor Mangubhai Patel and staked a claim to form the next government.

Yadav was elected as an MLA from the Ujjain South seat for the first time in 2013. He retained the assembly seat in 2018 and again in 2023.

In the last month's assembly elections, the BJP won 163 of the 230 assembly seats in the state, relegating the Congress to a distant second at 66. PTI