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From Student Politics To CM: The Rise of Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as the CM of MP for the fourth time. Here’s a brief story of his political journey. 

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Video editor: Vivek Gupta & Mohd Ibrahim

As Shivraj Singh Chouhan takes oath as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for the fourth time, here is a brief story of his political journey – from his days in student politics to becoming the CM of the state.

Born on 5 March 1959 to a family of farmers, Shivraj Singh Chouhan's political journey began as a teenager. At the tender age of 16, he joined ABVP, and in 1975, Chouhan was elected as the president of Model School Student Union.

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Chouhan was a gold medalist in MA (Philosophy). He was even jailed during the Emergency. October 1989 was a major turning point in Chouhan's life.

As president of MP Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, he was leading the Kranti Mashal Yatra, and this saw participation of over 1 lakh youth. This gave Chouhan a great deal of prominence in the party.

In 1990, he was given a ticket by the BJP to fight the Assembly Elections from Budhni in Madhya Pradesh. He grew close to Atal Bihari Vajpayee after working for his Lok Sabha seat in MP's Vidisha.

After Vajpayee shifted to Lucknow, the seat went to Chouhan. From early 1990s to late 2005, Chouhan became Member of Parliament five times.

In November 2005, he was made Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for the first time.

With rising support within and outside the party, he again became the undisputed CM candidate for BJP in 2008 MP Assembly Elections.

BJP got 143 out of 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh and Shivraj was made the CM for the 2nd time.

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By 2013, the Congress was already on a decline nationally and the state elections were a cakewalk for Chouhan who had made MP a BJP bastion and earned himself the title of 'mamaji' among supporters. However, BJP lost narrowly in 2018 with Congress winning by a thin majority under Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Two years later, the tables turned, and with Jyotiraditya Scindia switching to BJP, the fall of the Congress Govt was inevitable. Kamal Nath resigned before the floor test in the Assembly and Shivraj took oath as Chief Minister for fourth time on 23 March.

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