Shivraj Makes Debut in Central Ministry, 4 Others from MP Including Scindia Get Berths

Bhopal: Senior BJP leader and four-time chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday began his new innings in politics by, for the first time, becoming a member of the Union cabinet.

Mr Chouhan was the first five Union ministers after Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be sworn in by President Draupadi Murmu in Delhi on Sunday evening.

The longest serving chief minister of Madhya Pradesh had made a debut in electoral politics in 1990 when he was elected to the state Assembly from Budhni.

In the following year, he was elected to Lok Sabha from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh.

He was made chief minister of Madhya Pradesh in 2005 when he was heading the state unit of BJP.

He was later elected to the state Assembly in 2006 from Budhni.

He represented the Budhni Assembly constituency from 2006-2024.

Mr Chouhan served as chief minister of the state four times in two stints consecutively for three times from 2005 to 2018 and again from 2020 to 2023, making him the longest serving chief minister of the state.

He was replaced in the post of chief minister by Mohan Yadav when BJP retained power in Madhya Pradesh in November, 2023 Assembly elections.

He defeated Congress candidate Pratap Bhanu Sharma by over eight lakh votes in Vidisha LS seat.

Mr Chouhan was initially reluctant to shift to Delhi from state politics, saying that “I would like to serve Madhya Pradesh till my last breath”.

However, the party had chosen him as a candidate for Vidisha in the 2024 general elections, giving him the indication that he was being shifted to Delhi to join the Union cabinet.

Mr Scindia who was a member in the previous Narendra Modi ministry at the Centre has been retained in the new Union ministry.

Mr Scindia who joined BJP after quitting Congress in March 2020, was also a minister in the Manmohan Singh government.

Mr Scindia won elections from Guna LS seat in the 2024 polls.

Another BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh Birendra Khatik has been retained in the new NDA ministry.

He was a member of the previous Narendra Modi ministry.

Two other BJP MPs from Madhya Pradesh, Savitri Thakur who has been elected from Dhar LS constituency, and Durga Das Uike who has been elected from Betul LS seat, are the new faces in the new Union ministry.

BJP had made a clean sweep of Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh by winning all the 29 seats.