RSS, BJP, 4-Time CM To Agriculture, Rural Development Minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan Makes National Debut

A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) prodigy and four-time chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made his national debut as the new agriculture and rural development minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet.

A grassroots leader, Chouhan being assigned the two crucial ministries looking after the agrarian sector, farmers and socio-economic reforms has come across as a significant political move by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

In his role as the Union minister of rural development, Chouhan, with his diligently cultivated ‘son of soil’ image, will be tasked with implementing Centre’s flagship schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), among others.

The government’s mega push on rural housing is clear with PM Modi deciding on providing assistance to three crore additional rural and urban households for construction of houses in the first cabinet meeting of his third term in office on Monday.

Also, the first file signed by the PM on assuming office was of PM Kisan Nidhi, authorising the release of the 17th instalment under it, which is to benefit nearly 9.3 crore farmers.

Given his experience in governance in the second-largest state in the country as well as his connect with farmers and workers in rural areas, his appointment as the cabinet minister is supposed to bring fresh stimulus to the government’s efforts in tightening the schemes and addressing the dual challenges faced by the agriculture sector and the rural populace.

Chouhan, often fondly referred to as ‘mamaji’, won the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat for the sixth time this year, securing a record margin of 821,000 votes. PM Modi had even lauded Chouhan openly at a rally in MP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, indicating his proximity to the central leadership.

The ex-MP CM started his political journey when he was just a 13-year-old with the RSS. He has been contesting from Vidisha since 1991.

The minister soon after attending the cabinet meeting informally met senior officers of his assigned ministries late Monday evening at the MP Bhavan. He had summoned senior officials from the ministries at the Bhavan in an informal meeting where he discussed the basic issues at hand and the way forward, said a government official.

According to the ministry’s spokesperson, Chouhan said that he will continue working for the welfare of farmers, which is also a major thrust of the NDA government. “There has been a continuity in these welfare works over the past 10 years of the central government and I will only take this work forward. Farmers’ welfare is the PM’s priority that’s why the first file I signed was of Kisan Nidhi. Same goes with the decision of providing assistance for housing for the poor…So, we will maintain this continuity,” Chouhan said in a statement.