After a long wait, the Madhya Pradesh cabinet was expanded on Thursday. As many as 28 new ministers including 20 cabinet ministers and eight ministers of state were inducted to the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet, taking the total number to 33. And the cabinet carries a clear stamp of Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia.
In-charge Governor Anandiben Patel administered oath of office to the new ministers in presence of Chouhan and Scindia.
Five ministers had been inducted earlier in April and along with the chief minister, the size of the cabinet is now 34. This keeps just one berth vacant as only a maximum of 35 members are possible in the cabinet in a house of 230.
Of the new ministers inducted nine belong to the Jyotiraditya Scindia camp. This takes the total number of ministers from Scindia camp to 11, which is exactly one third of the total.
Three more ex-Congress MLAs, who had resigned along with Scindia supporters in March this year to architect the fall of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, were also made ministers. The number of ex-Congress MLAs in the cabinet is now 14, which is 42 per cent of the total strength.
This is also probably a rare instance when almost half of the ministers (14 of 33) in a state cabinet are not members of the state Assembly. All of them will have to win by-polls within six months to be able to continue as ministers.
Another interesting point to note is that even among the 16 ministers inducted from BJP original cadre on Thursday, only seven have been ministers earlier. Nine new faces have been given a chance in this cabinet. Along with three of the five earlier ministers in the cabinet, the total number of ex-BJP ministers in the new cabinet is just 10.
Taking a dig on the composition of the cabinet, ex-chief minister Kamal Nath tweeted that he was personally grieved to not find the names of several experienced, senior and loyal BJP MLAs’ name in the list.
Nath also pointed out that this was probably the first time that 14 ministers of 33 were not members of Assembly. “This is like playing with the constitution and a joke on people of the state,” he tweeted.
He congratulated the new ministers and expressed hope that everyone together will work for development of the state.
Scindia, while interacting with media said that the expansion was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic and added everyone will work to fly the Madhya Pradesh flag high in the country.
Shivraj confidantes missing
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan congratulated his newly-appointed cabinet colleagues and expressed hope that everyone will work together for the progress and development of the state and welfare of the people.
While Scindia’s stamp is all over the cabinet, Chouhan seems to have hardly any confidantes, save Bhupendra Singh from Sagar and to some extent Jagdish Dewda. His other trusted aides and senior ministers like Rampal Singh, Rajendra Shukla and Gaurishankar Bisen were not included in the cabinet despite long-drawn consultations. Prominent among those who lost out berths were Sanjay Pathak, who played an important role in the return of BJP government, Paras Jain and Jalam Singh Patel.
However, he sought to play down talks regarding cabinet compositions saying that there were no factions. All are BJP members, he said, and they will work together. He added that the party gives different responsibilities at different times and others will be given separate responsibilities in the future.
The chief minister held a cabinet meeting soon after the oath ceremony and urged ministers to keep physical distancing norms in mind and avoid big congratulatory gatherings. He asked new ministers not to be stressed out and give adequate time to their work and meetings with party workers. Chouhan also said that they should review their departmental works on Monday (July 6) before the next cabinet meeting of July 7.
Regional imbalance
The cabinet balance is totally askew in the sense that the Gwalior-Chambal and Malwa region, where maximum of the 24 by polls are scheduled, have been given disproportionate representation. During Thursday’s expansion, 11 ministers were inducted from the Gwalior-Chambal region taking their total number to 12 in the cabinet as Narottam Mishra (Datia) was already minister. Malwa (Indore/Ujjain belt) got seven more ministers and the total representation is now eight as Tulsiram Silawat from Sanwer in Indore is already a minister. In Bundelkhand region, there are four ministers now with induction of three on Thursday. Three of these belong to a single district of Sagar. Similarly, Gwalior and Morena districts have three ministers each.
The biggest loser was Mahakoshal (Jabalpur/Chhindwara region) region from where ex-chief minister Kamal Nath comes with only one minister―that too, a new face. Central zone, inclusive of Bhopal, got only two ministers while Nimad area in southwest MP also got two ministers. Politically active Vindhya region in Northeast MP could get only three ministers with inclusion of two today.
“This regional imbalance was to be expected as Scindia has a strong presence in Gwalior-Chambal region and maximum of his supporters had resigned from this region. However, this situation is not justified from the viewpoint of the electorate of the state, who as a whole vote for a particular government,” political analyst Manish Dixit said.
Only four women in jumbo cabinet
The women―that is 50 per cent population of the state―have got the worst deal as only four have been included in the jumbo cabinet of 34 (inclusive of CM). Meena Singh was already a minister and on Thursday, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, Imarti Devi and Usha Thakur were inducted.
However, even in the earlier Kamal Nath cabinet, female representation was very poor as there were only two women ministers among 29―Vijaylaxmi Sadho and Imarti Devi.
Here is a list of the new ministers:
Cabinet Ministers
BJP original cadre
Gopal Bhargava – Rehli (Sagar)
Bhupendra Singh – Khurai (Sagar)
Yashodhara Raje Scindia - Shivpuri (Shivpuri)
Vijay Shah - Harsud (Khandwa)
Jagdish Dewda - Malhargarh (Mandsaur)
Brijendra Pratap Singh – Panna (Panna)
Vishwas Sarang – Narela (Bhopal)
BJP New faces
Usha Thakur – Mhow (Indore)
Prem Singh Patel – Barwani (Barwani)
Arvind Bhadoria – Ater (Bhind)
Mohan Yadav – Ujjain South (Ujjain)
Omprakash Sakhlecha – Jawad (Neemuch)
Ex-Congress MLAs
Bisahulal Singh – Anuppur, Anuppur
Aindal Singh Kansana – Mungaoli, Morena
Hardeep Singh Dang – Suwasra, Mandsaur
Scindia Supporters (Ex-MLAs)
Imarti Devi – Dabra, Gwalior
Prabhuram Choudhary – Sanchi Raisen
Mahendra Singh Sisodia – Bamori Guna
Pradyumna Singh Tomar – Gwalior, Gwalior
Rajyawardhan Singh Dattigaon – Badnawar, Dhar
Ministers of State
BJP new faces
Bharat Singh Kushwah – Gwalior rural (Gwalior)
Inder Singh Parmar – Shujalpur (Shajapur)
Ramkhelawan Patel – Amarpatan (Satna)
Ramkishore Kawre – Paraswada (Balaghat)
Scindia supporters (ex-MLAs)
Brijendra Singh Yadav – Mungaoli (Ashoknagar)
Girraj Dandotia – Dimni (Morena)
Suresh Dhakad – Pohri (Shivpuri)
OPS Bhadoria – Mehgaon (Bhind)