In 16 months, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav has altered or changed at least seven policies framed by former chief minister and now union agriculture minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

In the same vein, experts said, he is pushing a new slogan, “Narendra Modi ka Vision, Mohan ka Mission (Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision is chief minister Mohan Yadav’s mission) to “overshadow” Chouhan’s appeal.

Yadav, 60, was appointed as CM on December 13, 2023, replacing 64-year-old Chouhan, who had been the state’s CM for 16 years with an aim to infuse young blood and new ideas into the party and the state government.

In 16 months, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav has altered or changed at least seven policies framed by former chief minister and now union agriculture minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

In the same vein, experts said, he is pushing a new slogan, “Narendra Modi ka Vision, Mohan ka Mission (Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision is chief minister Mohan Yadav’s mission) to “overshadow” Chouhan’s appeal.

Yadav, 60, was appointed as CM on December 13, 2023, replacing 64-year-old Chouhan, who had been the state’s CM for 16 years with an aim to infuse young blood and new ideas into the party and the state government.

Officials said that at least seven decisions made by previous BJP governments led by Chouhan had been changed, adding that policy change is a “dynamic” process as per needs of the time and people. “One should not see it as a policy of a particular person,” the official said.

On Monday, Yadav instructed officers of public asset management department (PAMD) not to auction or lease out government properties and instead trying to make optimum use by government itself. “Selling government assets should not be the option—instead, efficient utilisation for public welfare must be ensured. The comprehensive documentation of all public properties should be carried out so that they may be upgraded and developed as per requirements,” Yadav said.

In 2020, former CM Chouhan had come up with the PAMD to auction public properties which were not functional and had generated ₹650 crore by auctioning 75 properties across the state.

Within two months of coming to power in December, Yadav had cancelled political appointments of 46 people in different corporations, boards and commissions. Chouhan had appointed them in December 2021.

In August 2024, Yadav said the bulldozer action was not part of their tradition, and he does not believe in it. His predecessor Chouhan had announced bulldozer action on mafia claiming to free 210,000 acres of government land between March 2020 to November 2023.

The state government is coming up with an amendment to the Urban Development policy to punish illegal colonisers and not to regularise illegal colonies developed since 2016. Chouhan in May 2023 had announced that all such colonies developed till December 2022 will be regularised.

In November 2024, Yadav announced the removal of the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) corridor from Bhopal constructed in 2009 by Chouhan to ease movement of buses. In Mach 2025, Yadav stopped auction of MP Road Development Corporation properties, a policy decision initiated by Chouhan in 2020.

On April 1, Yadav renamed hi-tech government schools from CM Rise to Maharishi Sandipani Ashram, said to have been the teacher of the deity Krishna. “CM Rise Schools - what a concept it is but its name rattled us. Britishers had gone but mentality is painful. (I) don’t know why (this name was chosen). I am changing the name to Maharishi Sandipani who imparted education to Lord Krishna in Ujjain,” he said.

The Yadav-led government has also made changes in many schemes such as Mukhymantri Kanya Vivah Scheme where mass marriages are organised and the brides get ₹51,000 cash and important household items. Earlier, 100 to 1,000 couples used to get married at a function. On April 22, the government said minimum 11 and maximum 200 couples will get married in one function. The state government has also stopped new registration of women under Ladli Behna Scheme introduced by Chouhan two years before the elections, earning rich political dividend.

Political analyst Dinesh Gupta said Yadav was taking decisions to build his image of being people-friendly and good administrator to overshadow the adoration among public for the former CM Chouhan.

“Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was popular among women voters as he declared himself their brother. Now, Yadav is changing policies to emerge as a leader of people. He has mostly tweaked policies which were being questioned. Yadav is trying to bring BJP out of Chouhan’s overshadow,” he said.

Political analyst Girija Shankar said superficially, it could be seen as a contradiction between two BJP leaders, but it is all about different perspectives. “Yadav is trying to present his idea of decision making and making some corrections,” he said.

BJP state president VD Sharma said, “BJP is a discipline party and has a clear ideology. No leader can take any decision individually. Now, a new leadership is taking over in MP and are taking decisions that will take MP forward and help India in becoming world leader.”

Congress spokesperson KK Mishra said, “It’s not Mohan Yadav but senior leadership of BJP is trying to overshadow the image of former CM Chouhan, an announcement machine. It was clear that Chouan was trying to create his image of being larger than a party and that’s why Mohan Yadav was chosen as a new CM as he would be more amenable to the central leadership.”