BHOPAL: With the 28 newly sworn in ministers not being allocated portfolios from Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan even after six days, BJP's own ranks seem to questioning the helplessness of the CM over the issue.
Former minister and senior BJP MLA from Patan seat of Jabalpur district Ajay Vishnoi has tweeted over the issue of delay in portfolios allocation, triggering a political controversy in the state.
The four-time MLA tweeted on Wednesday, "First it was about number of ministers and now the distribution of portfolios. I fear that if BJP workers get upset with such insult of our leader. It would be a big loss."
The tweet is being interpreted among the ruling party circles as an indication of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, not being allowed to make his choices in allocation of portfolios to new ministers, particularly under reported pressure from Jyotiraditya Scindia camp. Vishnoi’s tweet was responded by Congress’s Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha, who also belongs to Jabalpur.
Tankha responded to Vishnoi’s tweet, "First the Congress had to suffer the damage, now it’s certainly BJP’s turn. You’re completely correct Ajay Bhai."
Importantly, just a few days back, Vishnoi, who was among the frontrunners for ministerial berth had written a letter to the CM after not being included in July 2 second cabinet expansion. In the letter, Vishnoi had urged the CM to keep charge of Jabalpur and Rewa districts with him. Both the districts have zero representation in the council of ministers.
Pointing towards the anger among people of both districts on not finding representation in the council of ministers, Vishnoi had written that the CM taking charge of both districts might help in pacifying the people in both districts. He had also quoted example of Digvijaya Singh being in-charge of Jabalpur during his chief ministerial stint.
Importantly, in the 34-strong council of ministers, while the Vindhya region, which includes Rewa district (the region was swept by BJP in 2018 assembly polls) has two ministers, the Mahakoshal region has just one MLA as minister from Balaghat district. While three major cities, including Indore, Gwalior and Bhopal have representation in the council of ministers, there is no representation for the fourth major city Jabalpur.
Portfolios allocation likely by Thursday morning
With the state cabinet meeting which was slated at 10.30 am on Thursday being postponed to 5 pm the same day, speculations are rife that the portfolios to the 28 new ministers would be allocated on Thursday morning.
When questioned by journalists about the delay in portfolio allocation, the CM said on Wednesday, “All the departments come under the CM and since I’m the CM, I’m also minister of all departments. The government is functioning properly, the cabinet meeting is slated on Thursday, everything will be worked out by then,” said Chouhan.