No portfolios allocated yet to MP ministers

Bhopal, April 21 (SocialNews.XYZ) After running a one-man ministry for a record 27 days, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan avoided allocating portfolios to members of his expanded cabinet on Tuesday. Instead, he assigned responsibilities of two revenue divisions to each of the five members.

The arrangement might continue for some time as the ministry will focus on the Corona crisis. The first meeting of the cabinet took place shortly after the swearing in the new ministers.

Narottam Mishra was assigned the Bhopal-Ujjain division, Tulsi Silawat Indore-Sagar, Govind Rajput Chambal-Gwalior, Meena Singh was given the responsibility of Rewa-Shahdol and Kamal Patel of the Hoshangabad-Narmada Puram division.

The ministers will coordinate with the Divisional Commissioners, the IGPs, SPs and Collectors and ensure cohesive efforts with the Health Department, interact with public representatives and receive feedback from the public. They will also guide the officers from time to time. They will monitor work especially with focus on agriculture related work.

Among the decisions taken in the first cabinet meeting, the government decided to extend the tenure of Municipal Corporation mayors for one year. An administrative committee will be formed to each of the dissolved civic bodies. Mayors in the municipal corporations and the Chairman in the municipalities will head the civic bodies. This system will remain in force for a year.

Civic elections will not take place due to the Corona threat. The Kamal Nath government had appointed administrators after completion of term of bodies. The new government has overturned that decision.

Tuesday's expansion of the cabinet has expectedly caused resentment among the old BJP members as well the new ones admitted after last month's floor-crossing drama. Former ministers and senior state BJP leaders like Gopal Bhargava and Bhupendra Singh have missed the bus despite playing a key role in toppling the Congress ministry.

In the initial reaction from the Congress, Rajya Sabha member and Supreme Court lawyer Vivek Tankha has questioned the constitutional validity of the ministry after five new ministers were added. Tankha quoted Article 164 (A) of the Constitution to say the expanded cabinet should have had at least 12 members.

However, Chouhan said the main issue before the government was to deal with the crisis caused by Covid-19 and the cabinet expansion is not complete as yet. The party and the government will take a call on the issue after the lockdown is over.

Four of the six ministers of the Jyotiraditya Scindia's camp have voiced concern over the possible delay in their ascent to real power. Scindia had played a decisive role in bringing the BJP back to power in Madhya Pradesh.

Apart from the Scindia faction, there are other MLAs like Congress' Bisahulal Singh and BSP's Ramabai, who had backed the Chouhan government on being denied berths in the Kamal Nath Ministry have openly expressed their anxiety as the BJP hinted the next expansion of the cabinet is unlikely before the Rajya Sabha elections, which were due on March 27 but were postponed.

The state also has 24 Assembly byelections due in the next few months. Two have been caused by the deaths of incumbent MLAs. The rest will be held to fill up vacancies caused by the Congress legislators who switched to the BJP.

Chouhan has tried to strike a balance of caste equations with Mishra (Brahmin), Meena Singh (Scheduled Tribe), Patel (OBC), Silawat (Scheduled Caste) and Rajput (Thakur). Besides, the BJP has tried to strike a regional balance in the cabinet given that the five members hail from Gwalior-Chambal, Bundelkhand, Malwa, Vindhya and Central MP.

Source: IANS