BJP seems ready for last-minute Cabinet expansion in poll-bound MP

Bhopal, Aug 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The likely expansion of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s Cabinet in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh has created a buzz in the political circles of the state.

The likely expansion has also raised questions as to what is prompting the BJP for this move even after naming the first list of 39 candidates for the elections scheduled end of this year a week back. Also, what made CM Chouhan delay the expansion which was supposed to be done a year back?

Speculation is rife that the sudden decision was taken as a preemptive exercise to curb any possible discontent among the different factions of the BJP leaders, especially those kept out of the Cabinet despite giving better results on the tasks assigned to them during the last Assembly elections in 2018.

The names of two senior BJP leaders in the race for a Cabinet berth are two-time ex-minister and Rewa MLA Rajendra Shukla and Balaghat MLA Gaurishankar Bisen, an OBC leader from the tribal-dominated Mahakoshal region.

Sources also claimed that the last-minute decision for Cabinet expansion has been taken on the direction of the Central leadership of the BJP after receiving reports of resentment from party leaders in different regions.

For instance, Shukla, who is considered close to CM Chouhan, recently met with the party's central leadership and reportedly expressed his annoyance.

Two-time ex-minister Shukla, who has established himself as a prominent Brahmin face of the BJP in the Vindhya region, was upset with former MLA couple Abhay Mishra  and Neelam Mishra making a 'ghar-wapsi' from the Congress. Political rivalry between Shukla and Mishra has been in the public domain for the past several years.

Sources told IANS that state BJP President V.D. Sharma and Home Minister Narottam Mishra have brought Abhay Mishra back into the BJP. However, Shukla was more upset because CM Chouhan also gave his consent for the same, according to sources in the BJP.

Another speculation is that the BJP has noticed that Brahmin voters are upset because Shukla wasn't given place in the Cabinet despite the party winning 24 out of the 30 Assembly seats in Vindhya region in 2018.

The names of some other BJP leaders like ex-minister Ajay Vishnoi from Jabalpur, Rahul Lodhi (nephew of ex-CM Uma Bharti) and Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel from Narsinghpur are also under consideration for Cabinet berths, sources said.

There are currently four vacant berths in CM Chouhan's Cabinet. The new ministers, if inducted, are likely to get just a couple of months to work, as polls are likely in the state in November this year.

The buzz of Cabinet expansion started after CM Chouhan met Governor Mangubhai Patel late on Tuesday evening.

Responding to that, state BJP president Sharma said on Wednesday, "The Cabinet expansion is a discretion of the Chief Minister and if it is done, it will be announced soon."

The state Cabinet has not been expanded after the induction of 28 ministers in July 2020.

The previous expansion came more than three months after the BJP government was formed following a rebellion of about two-dozen Congress MLAs led by present Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Five ministers had been inducted initially and the Cabinet size had gone up to 34 including the Chief Minister, with just one slot remaining vacant.

During the November 2020 bypolls, three ministers from the Scindia camp had lost and these berths had fallen vacant but there was no Cabinet expansion for the past three years.

Source: IANS