Shivraj Singh Chouhan (also spelt Chauhan; ; born 5 March 1959) is an Indian politician who is serving as the 32nd

Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare The minister of agriculture and farmers' welfare () is the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and a key member of the Union Council of Ministers (India), union council of ministers of the Government of India. The portfoli ...

and the 23rd Minister of Rural Development since 11 June 2024. Chouhan served as the

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

from 2005 to 2018 and again from 2020 to 2023, and was a member of the

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha or the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Madhya Pradesh state in India. The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Bhopal, the capital of the state. It is housed in the ''Vidh ...

from Budhni from 2006 to 2024, and earlier from 1990 to 1991. He is the longest-serving Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. He served as the

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

from 2019 to 2020, and has been a member of the party's Parliamentary Board and Central Election Committee. He was the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha from 2000 to 2002. Chouhan represented the Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from 1991 to 2005, and was again elected to the

18th Lok Sabha The 18th Lok Sabha was formed after general elections were held in India over seven phases from 19 April to 1 June 2024, to elect all members from 543 constituencies of the Lok Sabha. The votes were counted, and the results were declared on 4 ...

from the same constituency. Within the BJP, he has also served as General Secretary and President of the party’s Madhya Pradesh state unit. Chouhan joined the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

in 1972, at the age of 13. He is known for launching various welfare schemes such as rice at ₹1 per kg for the poor, the Sambal scheme providing maternity assistance to women labourers, free education for underprivileged girls, subsidised electricity, the Ladli Laxmi Yojana, and the Beti Bachao Abhiyan. These welfare initiatives introduced by Chouhan are credited with contributing to the BJP's electoral victories in the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

state elections.

Early life and education

Shivraj Singh Chouhan was born in a farmer's family to Prem Singh Chouhan and his wife Sundar Bai Chouhan in the Jait village of Sehore district, and belongs to the Kirar community. He is a gold medalist in M. A. (

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

) from Barkatullah University Bhopal.

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 * From 1993 to 1996 he was a Member of Committee on Labour and Welfare * From 1994 to 2000 he was a Member of Hindi Salahkar Samiti

Political career

Chouhan was first elected to the State Assembly from Budhni Constituency in 1990. He was elected a Member of Parliament for the first time in his career in 10th Lok Sabha from

Vidisha Vidisha (विदिशा, formerly known as Bhelsa and known as Besnagar and Bhaddilpur in ancient times) is a city in Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Vidisha district. It is located 62.5 km north ...

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

11th Lok Sabha The 11th Lok Sabha was constituted after April–May 1996 general elections. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls in 1998. Atal Bihari Vajpa ...

(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 The 12th Lok Sabha (23 March 1998 – 26 April 1999), was constituted 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 did not provide the ...

(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 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 from Raghogarh. He was a member of Consultative Committee, ministry of Communications from 2000 to 2004. He was re-elected to

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (2 June 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian National ...

(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. He was elected to

from

with a margin of 8,21,408 votes.

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 Budhni 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 84,805 from a candidate of BJP. 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 is the 43rd Minister of Communications (India), Union Minister of Communications and the 10th Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Minister of Devel ...

resulting in the collapse of the

Kamal Nath Kamal Nath (born 18 November 1946; ) is an Indian politician who served as the List of chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, 18th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for approximately 15 months and resigned after a 2020 Madhya Pradesh political crisis ...

government. As of December 2023, Chouhan is the longest-serving chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Union cabinet minister and national politics

Awards and recognition

* 2011 NDTV Indian of the year award - Leader of New India (development). *2016 Suryoday Manavta Seva Sanman award. * Champions of Change (award) 2022.

References

External links

Shivraj Singh Chouhan
(personal) , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chouhan, Shivraj Singh 1959 births Living people Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party 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 Madhya Pradesh MLAs 2023–2028 India MPs 2024–2029