28 new ministers inducted in Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh cabinet

Acting MP Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office and secretary at the Raj Bhavan. Of the 28 new ministers, 20 and eight are of cabinet and ministers of state rank, respectively.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh (MP) chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made a major Cabinet expansion on Thursday around three months after unseating the Congress’s Kamal Nath government, as 28 ministers were sworn in.

Rajya Sabha member and new entrant to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jyotiraditya Scindia’s imprint was evident in the cabinet expansion. (ANI)

Acting MP Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office and secretary at the Raj Bhavan.

Of the 28 new ministers, 20 and eight are of Cabinet and ministers of state rank, respectively.

Rajya Sabha member and new entrant to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jyotiraditya Scindia’s imprint was evident in the Cabinet expansion, as 12 of 22 former lawmakers, who are considered to be his loyalists, found ministerial berths.

Earlier in March, 22 lawmakers had rebelled against Kamal Nath and later joined the BJP.

All these 12 ministers will have to be elected to the state assembly in the next six months to retain their position as ministers as per the constitutional provision. Eight of these ministers are from the Gwalior-Chambal region, where 16 assembly by-polls will be held in the coming months.

While Prem Singh Patel, Omprakash Saklecha, Aindal Singh Kansana, Usha Thakur, Arvind Bhadoria, Mohan Yadav, Hardeep Singh Dang, and Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon have become cabinet ministers for the first time.

Four of them --- Imrati Devi, Dr Prabhuram Chaudhary, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, and Pradyumn Singh Tomar -- were ministers in the then Kamal Nath cabinet as well.

The ministers of state include Bharat Singh Kushwaha, Inder Singh Parmar, Ramkhelawan Patel, Ram Kishor Kanware, Brijendra Singh Yadav, Girraj Dandotia, Suresh Dhakad, and OPS Bhadoria. All of them have become ministers for the first time.