Mohan Yadav issued order removing party functionaries and officials appointed to boards and commissions.
NEW DELHI: Less than 100 days after taking oath as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mohan Yadav—considered a “surprise” choice—issued a significant order removing party functionaries and officials appointed to boards and commissions for their perceived closeness to his predecessor, Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The order, dated 13 February 2024 and accessed by The Sunday Guardian, though over a year old, signals the complete autonomy granted to Yadav by the BJP’s central leadership, allowing him to make independent decisions and step out from under Chouhan’s towering 17-year legacy.
According to political observers in the state, the sweeping reshuffle across 46 state-run corporations, boards, and commissions was far from a routine administrative move. Rather, it was a strategic attempt by Yadav to assert his authority and establish his leadership within the party.
“By executing such a swift overhaul, Yadav sent a clear political message — that he was forming his own team and moving decisively beyond the influence of his predecessor. The move reflects the significant freedom he enjoys from the party’s central leadership,” a BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh told The Sunday Guardian.
The order, signed by then-Chief Secretary Raghvendra Kumar Singh and citing directions from CM Yadav (who took office on 13 December 2023), stated that appointments listed in the attached annexure were cancelled with immediate effect.
Those removed included Makhan Singh Chauhan, Rahul Singh Lodhi, Vibhash Upadhyay, Bharatdas Bairagi, and Akhileshwaranand Giri. Others on the list were Shiv Narayan Choubey, Shailendra Barua, Jitendra Litoria, Girraj Dandotiya, Ranveer Jatav, Jaswant Jatav, and Munnalal Goyal.
The list further included Ashutosh Tiwari, Vinod Gotia, Jaipal Chawda, Amita Chapra, Prahlad Bharti, Narendra Bithre, Rajkumar Kushwah, and Narendra Singh Tomar.
Additional names were Rajendra Singh Mokalpur, Rajesh Agarwal, Ramesh Chandra Sharma, Jitendra Jamdar, Shrikant Patil, Shailendra Sharma, A.P. Shrivastava (Retd. IAS), and Bhagwan Das Gourane.
Also affected were Ramdayal Prajapati, Satyendra Bhushan Singh, Shaitan Singh Pal, Krishna Mohan Soni “Munna”, Sunil Pandey, Anil Agarwal “Lily”, Ved Prakash Sharma, Hemant Tiwari, Sultan Singh Shekhawat, and Bhagchandra Uike.
The final names on the list included Ashok Porwal, Dr. Nishant Khare, Shyam Bansal, Pitambar Topnani, Rajesh Yadav, Kamal Dhoot, and Rama Mishra. These individuals