Madhya Pradesh Cabinet expansion on Thursday, 20-25 new members set to join Shivraj Singh Chouhan government

Shivraj Singh Chouhan to expand Cabinet on Thursday.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan Cabinet List 2020: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday said that the much-awaited Cabinet expansion will take place on Thursday. Speaking to reporters in Bhopal, Chouhan said that the new ministers will take oath tomorrow at the Raj Bhawan.

“The Governor will take oath today. The cabinet members will take oath tomorrow,” he said on the sidelines of a programme.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers. She has been given the additional charge of Madhya Pradesh as incumbent Lalji Tandon is undergoing treatment at a Lucknow hospital.

The development comes after Shivraj Singh flew to Delhi on Sunday and held consultations with the central BJP leadership over the much-talked about cabinet expansion. The expansion was likely to take place on Tuesday, but it couldn’t happen.

According to multiple reports, 20 to 25 new members could take oath on Thursday. Earlier too, reports doing the rounds suggested that as many as 25 new ministers will join the Cabinet including some former Congress MLAs who had joined the BJP in March.

When Shivraj was specifically asked about the delay in cabinet expansion, he evaded answering directly. He replied, “Only amrit (elixir) comes out of manthan (churning), vish (poison) is consumed by (Lord) Shiva.”

There have been reports of several of the recommendations for ministerial berths being overruled by the central leadership. While the BJP has been tight-lipped about it, there have been indications that the top leadership is miffed with Shivraj over a host of issues, the most recent being a BJP MLA cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for a record fourth term on March 23 after Kamal Nath resigned from the top post following rebellion by 22 Congress MLAs. On April 21, Shivraj inducted five ministers, including two former Congress MLAs.

Most of the rebels were considered close to former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP in the same month. Scindia had quit the Congress after he was denied a Rajya Sabha berth. He recently got elected to the Upper House as a BJP member from Madhya Pradesh.

The five ministers who had on April 21 joined Shivraj’s Cabinet included two former Congress MLAs. There have been demands by the Scindia faction for a total of nine ministerial berths.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and former CM Kamal Nath has questioned the delay, saying, “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.”