After Chhattisgarh, the BJP on Monday dropped a big surprise as it announced Mohan Yadav (58), a leader of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and a three-time party MLA, as the new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

The suspense over the third winning State, Rajasthan, continued as its anticipated Chief Minister's name is expected to be announced by Tuesday afternoon, according to BJP sources.

Chhattisgarh's Chief Minister-designate and BJP leader Vishnu Deo Sai will take oath, along with his Cabinet colleagues, on Wednesday at a ceremony in Raipur in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries.

Yadav is an MLA from Ujjain Dakshin who won the 2023 Assembly polls by a margin of over 13,000 votes. He  was the Higher Education Minister in the outgoing Shivraj Singh Chouhan Government. Chouhan has submitted his resignation to the Governor after Yadav was elected as the leader of the State legislative party paving the way for him to take over as the next CM of Madhya Pradesh.

Yadav has staked the claim to form the Government and the oath ceremony will be decided by the party in a day.

Yadav met  Governor Mangubhai Patel in the evening  and handed over a letter of support claiming to form next Government. Yadav was accompanied by outgoing Chief Minister Chouhan, State party chief VD Sharma, and the three Central observers to the Raj Bhavan.

According to BJP leaders, Yadav was elected as the BJP's legislature party leader in Madhya Pradesh at a meeting in Bhopal in presence of central observers. 

Chouhan proposed the name of Yadav, for the top post at a meeting of the newly-elected legislators held in the evening in Bhopal in the presence of party's central observers.

During the meeting, BJP observers, including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, BJP OBC Morcha president K Laxman and national secretary Asha Lakra discussed the names with the victorious MLA-elects.

Former Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who was fielded from Madhya Pradesh in the recently held State legislative Assembly elections, will be the new Speaker. According to the BJP, outgoing Finance Minister and two time MLA Jagdish Devda from Mandsaur and outgoing Public Relation Minister MLA Rajendra Shukla from Rewa have been elected as Deputy Chief Ministers. Devda was elected from Malhagarh by nearly 60,000 votes and Shukla from Rewa by around 21,000 votes.

The appointments end suspense over the identity of two of three Chief Ministers for the States the BJP won on December 3 as tribal leader and former Union Minister Vishnu Deo Sai was named Chhattisgarh Chief Minister on Sunday.

“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,” Yadav said after being named as the Chief Minister-elect. .

Yadav, who was not seen as among contenders for the CM post, is considered to be close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is a three-time MLA and a prominent leader of OBCs, who account for more than 48 per cent of the State's population. Yadav is seen as a vocal Hindutva leader. Yadav is the first leader to become Chief Minister from the temple town of Ujjain where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dedicated the newly-constructed Mahakal Lok corridor last year.

His appointment as the Chief Minister-elect comes 10 days after the saffron party swept the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election by winning 163 of 230 seats, successfully beating anti-incumbency.

Now, of the five States that voted in November, only Rajasthan is without a Chief Minister; the Congress, which won Telangana, has installed Revanth Reddy in the top post and, in Mizoram, the fledgling Zoram People's Movement claimed an impressive win and Lalduhoma is Chief Minister.  The BJP will now pick the new Chief Minister for Rajasthan after meeting with newly elected MLAs on Tuesday.

The BJP had contested the election for the first time in 20 years without a chief ministerial face in the Hindi heartland. With this, the BJP has reposed its faith in OBC leaders for the fourth time since 2003 when Uma Bharti was made the chief minister. After Bharti, Madhya Pradesh saw two more OBC CMs from the BJP — Babulal Gaur and Chouhan.