BHOPAL: Three leaders from Madhya Pradesh were inducted into the Narendra Modi led union cabinet on Monday.
As expected, former leader of opposition in the previous Lok Sabha and Member of Parliament from the Vidisha seat, Sushma Swaraj was given a place in the Cabinet.
Najma Heptullah, who was given an RS nomination from the state in 2012, has also been accommodated in the Modi Cabinet.
After the results of the general elections were declared, Swaraj had reportedly made it clear that she will only join the ministry if she was offered a position that matches her stature.
State BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar, who faced a lot of difficulty in winning the Gwalior seat, too was given a space in the Cabinet.
Tomar, who is considered to be close to BJP president Rajnath Singh and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, is likely to be replaced by BJP national vice-president and Rajya Sabha member Prabhat Jha, who was also in the running for a Cabinet slot, but was stopped by the combination of Tomar and Chouhan.
Thawarchand Gehlot, 66, who hails from Ujjain, is one of the most prominent Dalit face of the BJP and is the only name from MP who is a member of the BJP’s Parliamentary Board and the Central Election Committee. Gehlot, who is one of the most low profile senior party leader in the state, was rewarded for his hard work.
Modi has also given former MP CM Uma Bharti a place in his cabinet.