Bhopal: Ahead of the by-elections in two assembly constituencies on February 24, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is expected to expand his cabinet on Saturday.
Insiders in Bharatiya Janata Party claim that the Chief Minister could induct four to five new faces into his cabinet. According to sources, Governor Anandiben Patel has accepted Chouhan’s request to be available for the possible induction ceremony.
The Chief Minister had apparently sought an appointment with the governor late on Thursday evening, following which rumours started doing rounds that Patel had given her nod for the induction on Saturday.
Chouhan had hinted at the expansion during the Winter Session of the assembly, but could not proceed due to Chitrakoot bypolls and other “organizational reasons”.
Those vying for cabinet berth include Sudarshan Gupta and Ramesh Mendola from Indore, Gopilal Jatav from Guna, Ranjana Baghel from Dhar, Narayan Singh Kushwah from Gwalior and Yashpal Singh Sisodia from trouble-torn Mandsaur.
The saffron bastion, Indore, is yet to be represented in the cabinet. At least one ministerial berth is confirmed for MP’s commercial capital, sources said.
According to the constitutional provisions, the MP government can have a maximum of 34 ministers.
At present, Chouhan has 28 ministers in his cabinet. However, a couple of ministers could be shown the door due to their “poor track record”.
The last expansion had taken place in July 2016 in which senior ministers, Babulal Gaur and Sartaj Singh, were axed from the cabinet on grounds of their age, triggering a protest in BJP’s state unit.
With state elections scheduled to be held later this year, CM Chouhan would try to strike a balance in caste and regional equations through his cabinet expansion.
Comments
0 comment