Ex-Chhattisgarh Congress chief Mohan Markam takes oath as cabinet minister

He was removed as the PCC chief by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, barely a few months ahead of the Assembly polls.

Former Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Mohan Markam on Friday was sworn-in as a cabinet minister at Raj Bhawan in Raipur.

RAIPUR: Former Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Mohan Markam on Friday was sworn-in as a cabinet minister at Raj Bhawan in Raipur, two days after he was replaced by Deepak Baij, the party's Lok Sabha member from Bastar.

Markam was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and his cabinet colleagues in the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhawan.

“After serving as the state Congress president for four years, I will do everything to deliver my best with the new responsibility bestowed on me as a minister in the Chhattisgarh government. I extend my gratitude to the party high command and the chief minister”, he said after taking the oath.

It remains to be seen what portfolio Markam will be allocated in the Bhupesh Baghel cabinet.

A cabinet reshuffle in Chhattisgarh was expected after the state school education minister Premsai Singh Tekam resigned on Thursday.

Markam is an MLA from Kondagaon constituency in north Bastar. He was removed as the PCC chief by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, barely a few months ahead of the Assembly polls.

He was the first tribal president of the state Congress after Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in November 2000.

Markam came to the limelight when he defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party's powerful minister and prominent woman tribal leader Lata Usendi in the 2013 Assembly elections from Kondagaon.

He had contested the Assembly elections for the first time on a Congress ticket against Usendi in 2008, but at that time he had lost.

In 2018, he defeated Usendi for the second time from Kondagaon.

Born at Tedmunda village under Makdi tehsil of Kondagaon district on September 15, 1967, Markam has been active in politics since his student days.

As per the Constitutional provision, the strength of the cabinet of Chhattisgarh cannot exceed 13, including the chief minister.

The current strength of the state cabinet is 13.

(Additional inputs from PTI)