Even 10 days after the assembly election results in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is yet to form its cabinet, leaving Chief Minister Kamal Nath to work as a 'one-man cabinet'. The cabinet is expected to be formed early next week.
State Congress president Kamal Nath, who was elected as CLP leader and Chief Minister, is running the government in the absence of a cabinet, issuing several important orders mentioned in the party manifesto. On Wednesday, Kamal Nath reshuffled the top-level bureaucracy, including the officers of the chief minister’s secretariat.
Kamal Nath took oath of office as chief minister on December 17 in the presence of numerous UPA leaders and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. It was expected that a cabinet to support him would be formed in the next two days. However, three days after Kamal Nath assumed office, there is no sign of his cabinet.
On being questioned about cabinet formation at a press conference during his first day in office, Kamal Nath said, “In the absence of other ministers, I am the cabinet and have all authority to take such decisions.”
Congress sources said the delay in formation of a cabinet was due to the unavailability of Gandhi in New Delhi. Gandhi is away in Shimla and is expected to be back on Friday. Sources said Kamal Nath will meet Gandhi after his arrival to finalise names and get approval for cabinet formation.
The preliminary exercise to short-list the names of some two dozen MLAs out of 118 Congress MLAs and supporting groups has already been completed. It would be a difficult task for Kamal Nath to arrive at a 'balance' in his cabinet, owing to the factions led by Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh.
While Singh had aligned with Kamal Nath, Scindia was in the race for chief minister. It is expected that Scindia's supporters will get a fair share of cabinet berths.
The four independents, two BSP MLAs and one Samajwadi Party legislator—all of whom are supporting the Congress—are also expecting to be made ministers. With the BJP getting 109 seats in the 230-member house, balancing various groups with a wafer-thin majority is making things difficult for the Congress and Kamal Nath.
Meanwhile, cabinet formation has to be done before next Monday, as Governor Anandiben Patel is likely to go on her year-end vacation soon and will be back only in January. As per law, there is a limit on the number of ministers in the cabinet. In Madhya Pradesh, this number should not cross 35 ministers. It is anticipated that Kamal Nath will make only two dozen ministers, keeping some vacancies in view of impending Lok Sabha elections.
