Following the announcement of Mohan Yadav as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has also announced two deputy chief ministers for the state, namely Jagdish Devda and Rajendra Shukla.

Portfolios…

Notably, Devda who has a strong influence in the Sangh has many portfolios in his kitty, namely commercial taxes, planning, economic and statistics. In the last government, he served as minister of finance of the state. His hold in the state can be analyzed by his hold on Malhargarh, the constituency from where he has won eight times till now.

Rajendra Shukla, on the other hand, was elected to the assembly for the first time in 2003. His victory followed in 2008 and 2013. Shukla served under a number of ministries before taking charge as a cabinet minister in 2023 under the Shivraj government.

Records in making and breaking

After a span of 20 years, Madhya Pradesh has got deputy minister in the cabinet and for the first time, the state has two deputy CMs. For the two-decade rule of Shivraj Singh, no deputy CM was shortlisted or picked by the party.

Why two deputy CMs?

The formula for balancing the caste census of a state started in 2017 when UP had two leaders in this role to form an equilibrium in the territory where castes usually ‘make’ government. After Manohar Parrikar’s demise, the next assembly elections of Goa also resulted in two DyCMs for the little territory. Of course, it wasn’t about the caste there but all about striking a power balance in the state.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan had the aura that was supremely accepted. To give quite a new face as Mohan Yadav, an opportunity, the party needed two Dy CMs to make the same balancing formula.

Also, the three leaders satiate the caste formula with Mohan Yadav coming from OBC, Devda from the SC community, and Shukla from the general class.

Senior leader, Narendra Tomar has been picked as the speaker of the house. He again comes from the general class.

Also read: Mohan Yadav: New Chief Minister Of Madhya Pradesh