MP Cabinet Expansion Updates: Twenty eight new ministers on Thursday joined the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh. The new ministers were administered the oath of office an secrecy by Governor Anandiben Patel at the Raj Bhawan in Bhopal in the presence of CM Shivraj and party’ Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia. This was the second Cabinet expansion since Shivraj made a dramatic return to the helm of state affairs on March 23. Shivraj had earlier in April inducted five ministers in the Cabinet. Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to the new ministers at Raj Bhawan in Bhopal in the presence of Chouhan. BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia was also present at the ceremony. The new ministers include 20 of cabinet rank and eight ministers of state. The Chouhan ministry strength is now 34. The Chouhan cabinet still has one vacancy as the ministry’s strength, depending on the size of the House, should not exceed 35 as per constitutional norms.
Former BJP ministers including Gopal Bhargava, Vijay Shah, Jagdish Devda, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, Bhupendra Singh, Brajendra Pratap Singh and Vishwas Sarang were among those inducted in Thursday’s expansion. From Jyotiraditya Scindia camp, Bisahulal Singh, Aidal Singh Kansana Imarti Devi, Prabhuram Choudhary, Mahendra Singh Sisodia,Pyadyumna Singh Tomar, Hardeep Singh Dang, Rajwardhan Singh Dattigaon were inducted as cabinet ministers, while Brajendra Singh Yadav, Girraj Dandotia, Suresh Dhakad and OPS Bhadoria were sworn in as ministers of state. From BJP, Prem Singh Patel, Om Prakash Saklecha, Usha Thakur, Arvind Bhadoria and Mohan Yadav were inducted as cabinet ministers, while Bharat Singh Kushwaha, Inder Singh Parmar, Ramkhelavan Patel and Ram Kishore Kavre took oath as minister of state.
This is the second cabinet expansion in Madhya Pradesh since Shivraj's return to the CM's chair on March 23. List below:
22. Inder Singh Parmar
23. Ramkhelawan Patel
24. Ramkishore Kanware
25. Brijendra Singh Yadav
26. Girraj Dandotiya
27. Suresh Dhakad
28. OPS Bhadoriya
The new Ministers to take oath so far are:
15. Om Prakash Sakhlecha
16. Usha Thakur
17. Arvind Bhadoria
18. Mohan Yadav
19. Hardeep Singh Dang
20. Rajyavardhan singh
21. Bharat Singh Kushwaha
Cabinet expansion in Madhya Pradesh is currently underway at the Raj Bhawan. List of Cabinet ministers below:
8. Brijendra Pratap Singh
9. Vishwas Sarang
10. Imarti Devi
11. Prabhuram Chaudhary
12. Mahendra Singh Sisodia
13. Pradhuman Singh Tomar
14. Prem Singh Patel
The oath taking ceremony is currently underway at the Raj Bhawan. Following have taken oath so far
1. Gopal Bhargava
2. Vijay Shah
3. Jagdish Devda
4. Bisahulal Singh
5. Yashodhara Raje Scindia
6. Bhupendra Singh
7. Andel Singh Kansana
Kuwar Vijay Shah takes oath. He had served as a Cabinet Minister in previous BJP government.
BJP leader Gopal Bhargava takes oath as a Cabinet minister. He had served as the Leader of Opposition during the Kamal Nath government. He is an eight-time MLA and has won every election since 1985. He served as a minister in the BJP governments in 2003, 2008 and 2013.
The oath taking ceremony at the Raj Bhawan in Bhopal will begin shortly. 28 new faces are likely to join the Cabinet headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Former CM and senior Congress Kamal Nath has questioned the delay in the expansion of Cabinet. “This is for the first time in the history of the country when the cabinet expansion is taking place after such a long time. Only time will tell what was the reason for this delay and what will be its results,” he said.
The cabinet expansion will begin at 11 am at the Raj Bhawan in Bhopal. As many as 28 new faces are likely to join the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
According to television reports, as many as 28 new ministers will take oath on Thursday. This includes 9 from Jyotiraditya Scindia's camp.
As per the rule, Madhya Pradesh can have a maximum of 34 ministers including the Chief Minister. The rule says the number of Ministers shall not exceed 15% of the Assembly’s total strength. The Madhya Pradesh legislative Assembly has 230 seats.
Jyotiraditya Scindia has reached Bhopal. He will also attend the oath taking ceremony of the new ministers at the Raj Bhawan in Bhopal at 11 am. Nearly 10 Scindia supporters are likely to take oath today.
Shivraj Singh had inducted five ministers into his Cabinet on April 21 including two supporters of Scindia. The five ministers are -- Narottam Mishra, Kamal Patel, Meena Singh, Tulsi Silawat and Govind Singh. Silawat and Rajput are former MLAs and supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia who quit the Congress and joined the BJP after he was denied a Rajya Sabha berth.
New faces like Ramesh Mendola and Usha Thakur (both from Indore), Dr Mohan Yadav (Ujjain), Prem Singh Patel (Barwani), Yashpal Singh Sisodiya (Mandsaur), Kunwar Singh Tekam (Dhauhani) and Ram Khelawan Patel (Amarpatan-Satna) are likely to take oath.
According to reports, Shivraj Singh Chouhan's old loyalists including former ministers Rampal Singh and Rajendra Shukla are unlikely to find place in the expanded cabinet.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel took oath as Governor of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday at a ceremony at Raj Bhawan in Bhopal. Patel was given additional charge as Madhya Pradesh governor following the illness of incumbent governor Lalji Tandon. Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court Ajay Kumar Mittal administered the oath of office to Patel.
According to reports, 9 to 10 loyalists of Jyotiraditya Scindia will be among the 25-28 ministers who will take oath on Thursday. Shivraj Singh Chouhan had in April inducted two Scindia camp members.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan faces an uphill task by giving a respectable representation to the MLAs from the Jyotiraditya Scindia camp in the Cabinet and also managing the BJP old guard.
The Cabinet expansion in Madhya Pradesh will take place at 11 am at the Raj Bhawan in Bhopal. Governor Anandiben Patel will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will expand his cabinet on Thursday. Shivraj currently heads a six-member cabinet including himself.