The four others are V.K. Sakhlecha, S.L. Patwa, Uma Bharati and Babulal Gaur. Sakhlecha's and Patwa's term ended abruptly because of the imposition of president's rule. Uma Bharati and Babulal Gaur had to quit as per the directive of the party.

Shivraj Singh was a member of parliament when he was asked to take up the stewardship of Madhya Pradesh. He had no administrative experience. Many thought he would be a disaster but he belied the expectations not only of non-BJP circles but also his own party men. He never faced any challenge within the BJP so far. There may by factions in the ruling party but none dare to challenge his authority openly.

This was largely due to two factors-one unstinted support by the RSS leadership including Dr. Mohan Bhagwat. Second his popularity among the masses, which he earned because of several populist schemes launched by his Government. RSS is happy with him because what he did was not done so far by any BJP Chief Minister in the country. In 2006 he lifted the ban which prevented Government employees from participating in the RSS activities.

He also introduced many schemes and projects which nearly converted Madhya Pradesh into a Hindu state. Such steps include making study of Gita compulsory, introducing Sanskrit as one of the compulsory languages, performing Surya Namaskar in schools, launching special pilgrimage trains to carry elderly devotees to various holy places in the state, giving substantial help to poor for the marriage of their daughters. This scheme is known as 'Kanyadan' Insurance to the tune of Rs. one lakh of the girl child. This scheme is known as 'Ladli Laxmi'. Several thousand families are benefited by this scheme.

He has named many development schemes after Hindu religious names. For example water conservation scheme is known as Jalabhishek, Village uplift scheme as Gokul and Ayodhya etc. Besides he toes the RSS line about minorities. For example he announced in the Vidhan Sabha that he would never implement recommendations of Sachhar Committee. He further said that if the Sacchar Committee recommendations are implemented, it would result in another partition of the country. Because of such utterances, he has become a blue eyed boy of the RSS. His oratory touches the heart of the people.

The Congress suffered humiliating defeat in 2003 because of the failure to ensure regular supply of electricity and miserable conditions of roads. Chauhan did well in these two areas. Now people get uninterrupted supply of electricity and conditions of roads have improved to a considerable extent. By holding a series of investors meet he could lure industrialists to think in terms of investing in Madhya Pradesh.

But there are certain negative factors also. Top among them is the unearthing massive cases of corruption. More than 300 top officers, including a former Cabinet Minister (Laxmikant Sharma), are behind the bars for their involvement in corrupt activities. Hundreds of persons could get jobs by greasing the palms of those who had the authority to give them jobs by manipulating selection processes. The Profession Examination Board became the cesspool of corruption. Non-deserving persons managed to get admissions in medical colleges and colleges of dentistry.

During raids by various agencies on the residences, illegal property worth crores were found in the possession of Government servants including clerks and in some cases even class four employees. An IAS couple has been dismissed after they were found to be owning property, worth more than Rs. 300 crores. The climate emboldened government servants to indulge it corrupt activities. These discoveries brought shame to the state. But the miracle is that despite, the fact that the state is knee deep in corruption, the BJP has been winning elections hands down. (IPA Service)