Shivraj Singh Chouhan (born 5 March 1959), is an Indian politician and member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

. He is the 17th and current

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is the chief executive of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the ch ...

, having been elected to the same position 3 times in the past, and a

Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

from Budhni. He previously served as the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

of the Madhya Pradesh, between 2005 and 2018, and holds the record as the state's longest serving Chief Minister. He was also former National Vice-president, member of the

Parliamentary Board The organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is based upon the Constitution of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The organisation of the BJP is strictly hierarchical, with the president being the highest authority in the party. The party is co ...

and a member of the Central Election Committee of the

. As a leader of the

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

, Chouhan served as its

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

and president of its Madhya Pradesh state unit. He joined the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

in 1972, as a 13-year-old. He is a five-time

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, having represented

Vidisha Vidisha (विदिशा, formerly known as Bhelsa and known as Besnagar in ancient times) is a city in central Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located 62.5 km northeast of the state capital, Bhopal. The name "Vidisha" is derived from th ...

in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

, the lower House of the Indian Parliament, between 1991 and 2006. He is known for launching the schemes Ladli Lakshmi Yojana and Beti Bachao Abhiyan.

Early life and education

Shivraj Singh Chouhan was born in a Kirar Thakur family to Prem Singh Chouhan and his wife Sundar Bai Chouhan in the Jait village of

Sehore district Sehore District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Sehore is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bhopal Division. Demographics According to the 2011 census, Sehore District has a population of ...

, and belongs to the Kirar community. He is a gold medalist in

M. A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

) from

Barkatullah University Barkatullah University is a state government university in Bhopal, India. Originally known as the ''University of Bhopal'', and informally as ''Bhopal University'', it was renamed in 1988 after the freedom fighter Professor Maulavi Barkatullah, ...

Bhopal. He is an agriculturist by profession.

Early political career

His early political career can be defined as up to the point of his first election to the Lok Sabha. He was elected President of the Model School Students Union in 1975. From 1976 to 1977, he participated in underground movement against the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

and was imprisoned in Bhopal Jail for some time. In his early political career, he has also been: * A convener of Akhil Bhartiya Keshariya Vahini from 1991 to 1992 * A Member of Committee on Labour and Welfare from 1993 to 1996 * A Member of Hindi Salahkar Samiti from 1994 to 2000.

Political career

Chouhan was first elected to the State Assembly from

Budhni Budhni, also spelled Budni or Budhani, is a town and a Nagar Palika in Sehore district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is situated on Bhopal to Narmadapuram road at a distance of 7 km from Narmadapuram in north direction on the ba ...

Constituency in 1990. He was elected a

for the first time in his career in 10th Lok Sabha from

Constituency in the following year. In 1996, he was re-elected to the

11th Lok Sabha General elections were held in India in 1996 Indian general election, April–May 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force t ...

(his second term). He was Member of Committee on Urban and Rural Development and Member of Consultative Committee, Ministry of Human Resources Development and Member of Committee on Urban and Rural Development from 1996 to 1997 and Member of Committee on Urban and Rural Development, General Secretary of BJP, Madhya Pradesh from 1997 to 1998. Again in 1998, he was re-elected to

12th Lok Sabha This is the list of members of the 12th Lok Sabha, (10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999) after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that d ...

(third term). He was Member of Committee on Urban and Rural Development and its Sub-Committee on Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment from 1998 to 1999. His fourth term in the

13th Lok Sabha The 13th Lok Sabha (10 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–Oc ...

was from 1999. He was member of Committee on Agriculture from 1999 to 2000, member of Committee on Public Undertakings from 1999 to 2001, and National President of Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha from 2000 to 2003. He was also the Chairman of House Committee (Lok Sabha) and National Secretary of Bhartiya Janta Party. The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh in the Assembly elections of December 2003. At that time, Shivraj Singh contested polls unsuccessfully against the incumbent Chief Minister

Digvijaya Singh Digvijaya Singh (born 28 February 1947) is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. He is Ex-General Secretary of the Indian National Congress party's All India Congress Committee. Previously, he had served as the ...

from Raghogarh. He was a member of Consultative Committee, ministry of Communications from 2000 to 2004. He was re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha (5th term) in 2004, with a margin of over 260,000 votes. He was member of Committee on Agriculture, member of Joint Committee on Offices of Profit, National General Secretary of BJP, Secretary of Parliamentary Board, and Secretary (Central Election Committee). He also headed Housing Committee of Lok Sabha, and was a member of Committee on Ethics.

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh

As the state BJP President, Chouhan was chosen to become the

on 30 November 2005. He contested a by-election from

assembly constituency the following year, winning his old seat by a margin of over 36,000 votes. In 2008, Chouhan retained his Budhni seat by over 41,000 votes, and with it, led the BJP to a second consecutive victory in the state. On 12 December 2008, he was sworn in for his second term. On 8 December 2013, Chouhan won Legislative Assembly elections from Budhni by the margin of 84805 from a candidate of Congress. He was also elected as Chief Minister of MP for a third term. On 12 December 2018, after failing to gain a majority in the 2018 Madhya Pradesh assembly election, Chouhan resigned as Chief Minister. He once again took oath as the

on 23 March 2020 after 22 Congress MLA's resigned along with

Jyotiraditya Scindia Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia (born 1 January 1971) is an Indian politician who serves as the Minister of Civil Aviation, a position his father also held from 1991 to 1993. He also heads the Ministry of Steel. He is a Member of Parliament i ...

resulting in the collapse of the

Kamal Nath Kamal Nath (born 18 November 1946) is an Indian politician who served as the 18th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for approximately 15 months and resigned after a political crisis. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Le ...

government.

Awards and recognition

2011: NDTV Indian of the year award - Leader of New India (development) 2016: Suryoday Manavta Seva Sanman award.

References

External links

Shivraj Singh Chouhan
(personal) , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chouhan, Shivraj Singh 1959 births Living people Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party People from Madhya Pradesh India MPs 2004–2009 Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh People from Vidisha People from Sehore district India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1991–1996 Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1990–1992 Madhya Pradesh MLAs 2003–2008 Madhya Pradesh MLAs 2008–2013 Lok Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh MLAs 2013–2018 Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Madhya Pradesh Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members Madhya Pradesh MLAs 2018–2023