BHOPAL: The defeat of three ministers in the Assembly bypolls may pave the way for entry of BJP MLAs from largely ignored Vindhya region into the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh.The Vindhya region covers Rewa, Panna, Datia, Orchha, Ajaigarh, Datia, Baraundha and Bijawar. Together, they have around over 24 seats.
Imarti Devi, Girraj Dandotiya and Aidal Singh Kansana lost in the bypolls. The defeat of the three ministers and resignation by two Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist cabinet ministers earlier this month (due to expiry of the six-month period within which they had to be elected as MLAs) has created five vacancies in the 34-member Council of Ministers.
Two Scindia loyalists, Tulsi Silawat and Govind Singh Rajput, are set to be re-inducted as Cabinet ministers after their bypoll wins. The three other vacancies are likely to be filled by core BJP MLAs, possibly from Vindhya, Mahakoshal and Bundelkhand region.
The possibility of Vindhya region MLAs getting a major share of three ministerial berths (whenever Chouhan decides to expand his council of ministers) is strong. The reason is despite sweeping the region in eastern UP and Chhattisgarh in 2018, only three present ministers, Bisahulal Singh, Meena Singh (both cabinet ministers) and Ramkhelawan Patel represent the Vindhya region. The BJP had won 27 out of 32 seats in the Vindhya region.
Three-time MLA Girish Gautam has already demanded that the concerns of the Vindhya region should be addressed. Gautam and ex-ministers Rajendra Shukla, Nagendra Singh, Nagendra Singh and senior MLA Ramlalu Vaishya are among frontrunners for ministerial berths. Cabinet minister Bisahulal Singh said on Monday that the next Assembly speaker should be from the Vindhya region.
The election to the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are due in the winter session of the Assembly.
Two BJP legislators from Vindhya region, including Nagendra Singh and Girish Gautam are being considered for the Speaker’s post. Similarly, the Deputy Speaker’s post could go to an MLA from Mahakoshal, Malwa-Nimar or Bundelkhand region.