‘Mama’ Shivraj Chouhan emerges as hero of BJP’s victory in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls
Chouhan’s enduring appeal, rooted in a ‘son of the soil’ image, has spanned nearly 18 years, transforming him from a shy politician to a mass leader.
BHOPAL: The longest-serving BJP chief minister and popularly known as mama (maternal uncle) and ‘paon-paon wale bhaiya’ (foot soldier), Shivraj Singh Chouhan has emerged as the hero of his party’s stunning victory in the state assembly elections.
The 64-year-old politician sought to turn the tables in BJP’s favour in Madhya Pradesh by launching a game-changer scheme like ‘Ladli Behna’ to beat anti-incumbency, though his party had refrained from projecting him as the CM face in last month’s assembly elections.
In March 2020, when the Congress government collapsed after a coup by the current civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and MLAs loyal to him, Chouhan, despite his party losing polls by a whisker in 2018, retained the confidence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) whose central leadership chose him the chief minister for a fourth term.
The BJP contested the November 17 assembly polls mainly using the aura of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but Chouhan, who took over as the CM at the age of 46 in 2005, remains a formidable contender for the top post among a crowded pool of aspirants after the saffron party retained power in the state.
Having a carefully cultivated image of a family man coupled with simplicity, Chouhan was at the forefront of campaigning, presenting himself as one among the people and promising further development besides coming out with populist welfare schemes, especially for women.
Assiduously working on his ‘son of the soil’ image, the soft-spoken leader easily identified himself with the socio-economic concerns of farmers, villagers, women and youngsters.
Chouhan in March launched the Ladli Behna scheme, which provides eligible women Rs 1,250 monthly financial assistance, and later promised to gradually hike the amount to Rs 3,000.
Speaking about the scheme, seen as a game-changer, during the campaigning, Chouhan, in his rustic style, remarked “It has raised the stature of women in the household and now even mothers-in-law offers rotis spread with ghee (ghee-chupdi rotis) to their daughters-in-law. The scheme has made women self-reliant.”
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