MP Election 2023 | Four-time Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan eyes fifth stint in two-pronged battle
A four-time Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been in politics for over three decades now. Having served as an MP as well as an MLA, Chouhan’s career has seen several ups and downs.
From once being seen in media circles as “prime minister material” to being ousted from power in 2018 after serving as CM for three terms, Chouhan has seen it all. However, the coming elections may pose his toughest challenge so far.
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In every election after becoming chief minister, Chouhan has made extensive use of his new name, converting it into a powerful medium to connect with his voters, especially women.
As he approaches a fresh Assembly poll, eyeing a fifth stint in the office, he seems set, once again, to take utmost advantage of this time-tested trick.
Campaigning through Madhya Pradesh, Chouhan has without fail ended his speeches with two direct questions – “Bhajapa ko jitayenge? Mama ko mukhya mantri banayenge? (“Will we bring BJP to victory? Will we make Mama our chief minister?)” After every question, he pauses, waiting for the response, which invariably comes in the form of a resounding “Haan! (Yes!)”.
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Whether this “yes” is strong enough to swing the election in his favour remains a matter of debate. However, the questions posed by Chouhan does not just signify another shot at power, it underlines Chouhan’s battle for supremacy amid apparent attempts by the party’s central leadership to sideline him.
Entering the elections with uncertainty around his return as CM, Chouhan braces for what may turn out to be his biggest political battle with challenges in the form of a resurgent Congress as well as a leadership frigid to his own interests.
As MP heads into a fresh electoral battle, here’s a look at Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s life and political career –
Born on March 5, 1959, to Prem Singh Chouhan and Sundar Bai Chouhan, at the Jait village in the state’s Sehore district, Shivraj Singh Chouhan went to Model Higher Senior Secondary School in Bhopal. He pursued a Master’s degree in Philosophy from Bhopal’s Barkatullah University.
Chouhan aka ‘Mama’ joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the age of 13 and served the organisation’s student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, in various roles. He joined active politics in the 1970s. From there, he continued to rise steadily up the hierarchy.
In 1990, Shivraj Singh’s election to the state assembly from the Budhni Constituency marked the beginning of his decades-long political career. The same year, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Vidisha seat. Since then, Shivraj Chouhan has been elected to the Lower House of Parliament four times.
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In November 2005, Chouhan, then the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh chief, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state for the first time. He then contested the Budhni bye-election and won by a margin of 36,000 votes. It also marked his return as MLA from the seat that kickstarted his political career.
By the time he took over as the state’s chief minister at the age of 46, he was already a five-time MP, having won his first Lok Sabha election in 1990.
In 2018, he conceded as the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister after the BJP failed to secure a majority in the assembly elections for the first time in 15 years. However, just over a year later, he was sworn in as the 19th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh after Jyotiraditya Scindia pulled the rug from under the Kamal Nath government and joined the BJP with his loyalists in a shock rebellion against the Congress.
