Finally, the long wait of Madhya Pradesh voters and of leaders across the country is over as the BJP has on Monday - December 11 ended the suspense by naming the next Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, a crucial state in the Hindi heartland where the party has retained its reign by winning the recently-held assembly polls. 

The election results of Madhya Pradesh were declared on December 3 and nearly ten days later, the state has welcomed a brand new Chief Minister. After hectic rounds of discussions, the BJP has announced that 58-year-old Mohan Yadav will be the next Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. The announcement has not only given a fresh start for the party in the state but also seemingly marked the end of Shivraj Singh Chouhan's era. 

Chouhan had been the BJP's pick for the Chief Minister post in Madhya Pradesh for several years and this time, though the party didn't get damaged by the anti-incumbency wave ahead of the elections, it decided to go with a fresh face and when there were a handful of prominent leaders in the Chief Ministerial race, the party has surprisedly handed over the baton to Mohan Yadav. 

On Monday, the BJP's central observers took part in a key meeting after which they announced that Mohan Yadav will be the leader of BJP's legislative party. When Union Minister for Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar resigned from the Prime Minister's Cabinet after winning a seat in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, it was speculated that he would be appointed as the Chief Minister. However, Mohan Yadav has won the race while Tomar has been named as the new Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. 

Jagdish Devda, the outgoing finance minister and two time MLA from Mandsaur and Rajendra Shukla, the outgoing public relations minister and MLA from Rewa have been elected as the Deputy Chief Ministers. During the meeting, the BJP observers including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had discussed the names with the newly won MLAs following which an official announcement was made. 

It has been reported that Mohan Yadav, who served as the higher education minister in the previous government led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has a strong backing from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the parent body of the BJP. Yadav is also a businessman and in the 2023 assembly polls, he emerged victorious from the Ujjain South constituency, winning by a margin of 12,941 votes against Congress candidate Chetan Premnarayan Yadav. 

He has secured over 95,000 votes from Ujjain South, which falls under the Ujjain Lok Sabha seat, which has been BJP's stronghold since 2003. Three years after becoming a cabinet minister in Madhya Pradesh, Yadav is all set to take over the realm in the state at a high time when India is heading for the general elections next year. 

After being named as the next Chief Minister, Yadav said, "I am a small worker of the party. I thank all of you, the state leadership and the central leadership. With your love and support, I will try to fulfil my responsibilities." "I thank PM Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, VD Sharma for giving me such a big responsibility. I will take forward the development journey of the state", he added.

After winning the Chief Ministerial race, Mohan Yadav was warmly greeted by senior leaders including his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan and along with Chouhan and senior leaders, Yadav met Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel and staked claim to form the new government. With Mohan Yadav becomes the Chief Minister-elect, outgoing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has tendered his resignation to the Governor. 

BJP has won 163 seats of 230-member assembly in Madhya Pradesh and it is the first time in twenty years that the BJP has contested the election without a chief ministerial face. Mohan Yadav will sworn-in as the fifth Chief Minister of BJP in Madhya Pradesh, while Chouhan remains as the longest serving BJP Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh as he reigned the state for over 16 years.