New Delhi: In a last-minute move to contain resentment among senior party leaders, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh cabinet is set for expansion just one and half months before the polling dates are announced in the BJP-ruled state.
This, according to party insiders, has the blessings of the BJP high command which earlier had not given its nod to Chouhan’s requests in the last three years.
After their inductions, the new ministers are likely to get just one and half months to work as the election is likely to be announced in October. In 2018, the Election Commission had announced the election for Madhya Pradesh in the first week of October.
Currently, Madhya Pradesh has 30 ministers and four more berths are up for grabs. The last expansion of the cabinet took place in July 2020 when Chouhan inducted 28 ministers. Three ministers from the Jyotiraditya Scindia camp then lost in the November 2020 bypoll.
Chouhan met Governor Manghubhai Patel late on Tuesday evening. This was followed by meetings with BJP state president V.D. Sharma, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, party organising general secretary Hitanand Sharma on Wednesday and Thursday to finalise the names, the insiders said, adding that consensus is yet to emerge.
“The decision to expand the cabinet was taken after a feedback by state poll incharge Bhupendra Yadav during Amit Shah’s visit. He (Chouhan) was given feedback after meeting several leaders, that many were upset for not being made ministers in the last three years,” a BJP state functionary told ThePrint.
“But the high command did not give consent to cabinet expansion in the last three years despite the CM reaching out multiple times. Now, it’s pushing for expansion to mollify those leaders whose feelings are hurt.”
A former BJP state minister told ThePrint that the dilemma before the party is the possibility of annoying those leaders and regions who don’t get a place in the proposed expansion.
“Inducting a few can be counter productive, as those who will be left will start working against the party. Such a situation occurs because of not taking decisions and over centralisation of power in Delhi. What is the point of expansion for one and half months?” the former minister asserted.
Former minister Ajay Bishnoi, a ministerial aspirant, had earlier said that cabinet expansion at this moment would only end up annoying party leaders more.
BJP state general secretary Harishankar Khatik, meanwhile, asserted that the chief minister would take any decision in the party’s interest. “It’s his prerogative to expand his cabinet. There are few posts vacant, and he can fill them if he think so.”
Another party functionary said the party could draw lessons from Karnataka where the central brass did not pay heed to similar requests made by B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai.
“The biggest threat for the party in Madhya Pradesh is not the Congress, but resentment among our cadre and fatigue factor. We mollified many leaders by accommodating them in manifesto and various management committees. Why leave any chance if we can reach out to regions and castes by sharing power and giving respect?” the BJP functionary told ThePrint.
This week, Chouhan made his loyalist and former minister Rampal Singh the chairman of Deendayal Antyodaya Samiti with the status of cabinet minister rank. Singh, a leader from Raisen district, earlier had missed the bus in 2020 as Scindia loyalists were accommodated in the cabinet.
Also Read: Rebellion in MP BJP after early poll list: 12 problem seats, Tomar to Scindia on damage-control duty
Mahakaushal, Bundelkhand regions in focus
In the BJP circles, the names of probable ministerial candidates doing the rounds are Gauri Shanker Bisen, Rajendra Shukla, Jalam Singh Patel, and Rahul Lodhi.
Bisen, a seven-time MLA, is the BJP’s OBC face in Madhya Pradesh, particularly in Mahakaushal region. The Balaghat MLA is the chairman of the MP State Backward Classes Commission. Bisen was vocal about his non-inclusion in the cabinet and highlighted on several occasions that he was not made a minister despite winning from Balaghat in 2018.
His elevation can send a positive message to OBC voters and the Mahakaushal region where the Congress has won 24 seats and BJP 13 in 2018.
Shukla, a prominent Brahimin face from Rewa, comes from Vindhya region. In 2018, the BJP had swept the region by cornering 24 out of the total 30 seats. However, the region has only one representative in the Chouhan cabinet.
Patel’s name is said to be under consideration for reaching out to OBC as well as Mahakaushal region. Lodhi, Uma Bharti’s nephew, is from Bundelkhand region. The OBC constitutes more than 45 percent of the state’s population.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Tea with 2 voters daily, weekly targets, zonal meetings — Amit Shah’s poll plan for MP BJP