Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the longest-serving chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and the five-time MP from Vidisha
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the longest-serving chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the five-time MP from Vidisha. Now he is set to be among those inducted into the Union Cabinet. As the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led council of ministers takes oath today.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Vidisha Seat
Fielded against Congress candidate and ex-MP Pratap Bhanu Sharma from Vidisha. Chouhan won the Lok Sabha elections by a huge margin of 8,21,408 votes. Chouhan made his electoral debut in 1990 when he won the Assembly elections from his hometown Budhni in Sehor district. One year later, Chouhan contested the by-poll after former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee vacated the Lok Sabha Seat in Vidisha. In his contest he defeated Congress contestant Pratap Bhanu Sharma by over 1 lakh votes. He went on to retain the seat for four consecutive times, from 1996 to 2004.
Chouhan’s role in State Election
Returning to state elections, Chouhan won the Assembly polls from Budhni in 2006, 2008, 2013, 2018 and 2023. Chouhan replaced Babulal Gaur as the Chief Minister and remained in the chair till 2018 as the BJP won two Assembly elections – 2008 and 2013 – under his leadership, before losing to the Congress in 2018. However, the Congress government didn’t last long as a faction led by Jyotiraditya Scindia and his 22 loyalist MLAs shifted to the BJP in March 2020, paving the way for Chouhan’s return as the CM for the fourth time.
Chouhan as ‘MAMA’
Despite of high incumbency in Madhya Pradesh BJP won the 2023 Assembly elections. But this time Chouhan was replaced by Mohan Yadav as Chief Minister on December 3. During his tenure of 17 years as the Chief Minister, Chouhan introduced several public beneficiary schemes in Madhya Pradesh. Including the ‘Ladli Laxmi Yojana’ in 2008 that earned him the title of ‘Mama’. In 2023, he extended his popular scheme with a new name – ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’. It is a cash benefit arrangement for women — which resulted in the BJP winning 163 out of 230 seats in the Assembly polls.
