Chhattisgarh: 3 first-time MLAs inducted into cabinet, strength rises to 14

Raipur, Aug 20 (PTI) Three BJP MLAs were inducted into Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai's cabinet in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, raising its strength to 14, the highest in the state's history after the introduction of a constitutional provision to limit the size cabinet size.

Governor Ramen Deka administered the oath of office and secrecy to BJP legislators Rajesh Agrawal, Guru Khushwant Saheb and Gajendra Yadav, all first-time MLAs, at a function held in the Raj Bhavan here.

CM Sai, assembly speaker Raman Singh, Deputy CMs Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma, state ministers and other leaders attended the function.

Yadav has been given charge of the school education, law and legal affairs, and cottage industry ministries.

Guru Khushwant Saheb has been made the minister for skill development, technical education and employment, and Scheduled Caste Development department.

Agrawal has been assigned the tourism, culture, religious trust and endowment ministries.

Sai congratulated the three new ministers and extended his best wishes to them.

In a statement, Sai expressed confidence that they will serve the people with utmost dedication, commitment and efficiency, and contribute towards taking Chhattisgarh to new heights of development and good governance.

Wishing the ministers a bright tenure, the CM said the state government, driven by collective cooperation and commitment, will continue to make consistent efforts to fulfill the people's aspirations.

Before the expansion, the Chhattisgarh cabinet had 11 members, including CM Sai.

In Chhattisgarh, which has a 90-member assembly, 13 MLAs, including the chief minister, have traditionally been part of the cabinet since the introduction of the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, which states that the size of a state's Council of Ministers, including CM, cannot exceed 15 per cent of total strength of the House.

Chhattisgarh has adopted the "Haryana model," where 14 ministers, including the CM, serve in a 90-member assembly, as per sources.

Like Haryana, for Chhattisgarh, with 90 members, the limit comes to 13.5, which makes room for 14 cabinet members.

The expanded cabinet reflects a balance of caste and regional representation.

Of the three newly ministers, Yadav hails from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, Saheb from Scheduled Caste and Agrawal from the general category.

After the expansion, the cabinet now has seven members belonging to the OBC -- Deputy CM Arun Sao, ministers Lakhan Lal Dewangan, Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, OP Choudhary, Tank Ram Verma, Laxmi Rajwade and Gajendra Yadav.

CM Sai, ministers Ram Vichar Netam and Kedar Kashyap hail from the Scheduled Tribes, Dayaldas Baghel and Guru Khushwant Saheb are from the SC category, while Deputy CM Vijay Sharma and Rajesh Agrawal are from the general category.

Laxmi Rajwade is the only woman member in the cabinet.

After the cabinet expansion, the Sai-led government has five members from Surguja division (north Chhattisgarh), three from Bilaspur division, two from Raipur division, three from Durg division and one from Bastar division (south Chhattisgarh).

The government has ensured representation from all major communities and regions, further consolidating its social and political base in the state, say political analysts.

The Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state by ousting the Congress in the 2023 assembly polls. It won 54 seats, while the Congress got 35 seats, down from 68 it won in the 2018 elections.

CM Sai, along with Deputy CMs Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma, took oath on December 13, 2023. Nine ministers were inducted later that month.

The then MLA and minister Brijmohan Agrawal resigned last year after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Raipur.

Profiles of new ministers are as follows: 1. Rajesh Agrawal (58), legislator from Ambikapur seat in Surguja division, defeated senior Congress leader and former deputy CM T S Singh Deo by just 94 votes in the 2023 assembly election. A first-time MLA, Agrawal hails from the Vaishya community.

After being elected as MP from Raipur parliamentary, Brijmohan Agarwal resigned as state minister. Since then, it was believed an MLA from the Vaishya community would be given a place in the cabinet. Amar Agarwal, Sunil Soni and Sampat Agarwal are also MLAs from the community, but the BJP expressed confidence in Rajesh Agarwal. He joined the BJP after quitting Congress in 2018.

2. Guru Khushwant Saheb (36) represents the Arang constituency reserved for SC category.

He is the son of Satnami sect leader Baldas Saheb and the duo joined the BJP after quitting Congress ahead of the 2023 assembly elections. The Satnami sect, followed by a majority of the SC population in Chhattisgarh, accounts for around 13 per cent of the state's population and is considered a crucial vote bank.

3. Gajendra Yadav, MLA from Durg, belonging to the numerically strong OBC Yadav community, comes from the RSS background.

In 2023, he defeated Congress leader Arun Vora, son of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Motilal Vora, by nearly 49,000 votes. Gajendra Yadav's father Bisra Ram Yadav had been the Prant Sanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Chhattisgarh in the past.

Earlier, senior BJP leader late Hemanchand Yadav, who also hailed from Yadav community and was elected as a MLA from same Durg constituency, served as minister from 2003 to 2013 during then Raman Singh-led BJP governments in the state. PTI

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