BHOPAL: Wait for the new council of ministers is getting longer in Madhya Pradesh, as the new chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav was set to travel to Delhi second time in three days to get the BJP top leadership’s nod for his team of ministers.
Yadav, who spent two days in Delhi (Thursday and Friday) before returning to MP to attend a programme at his native Ujjain, was scheduled to fly to the national capital again on Saturday evening, to attend the ongoing meeting of the party’s national office bearers.
While in Delhi, he is likely to meet the party’s top brass again to get their final stamp of approval about the new council of ministers.
Yadav was sworn in as the new CM along with two deputy CMs – Jagdish Dewda and Rajendra Shukla – on December 13, but neither has the new council of ministers formed yet nor the two deputy CMs allotted any ministerial portfolios.
On Thursday, the CM left for Delhi for a two days visit, during which he met PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He also met the defence minister Rajnath Singh and civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, besides hosting a dinner for MPs (both BJP and Congress) from Madhya Pradesh.
“He’ll fly from Indore to Delhi on Saturday evening again,” a key MP government source told this newspaper.
During the coming visit to Delhi, not only is Yadav likely to attend the national BJP’s ongoing meeting, but he will also meet other national leaders of the party, including President JP Nadda, particularly for finalising the council of ministers in MP.
According to key sources within MP BJP, the delay in the formation of the council of ministers, is happening as the party is taking time to accommodate the senior MLAs and ex-ministers, the five heavyweights (including ex-union minister Prahlad Patel, party national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and three other ex-MPs who won the assembly polls) and new faces in the council of ministers.
Also, the party is zeroing in on getting the right balance between the six regions and all 29 Lok Sabha segments with an eye on the coming elections. Another challenge before the party and the CM is to establish the right mix of all communities in the cabinet.
No portfolio for Dy CMs
Yadav was sworn in as the new CM along with two deputy CMs – Jagdish Dewda and Rajendra Shukla – on December 13, but neither has the cabinet formed yet nor the deputy CMs given ministerial portfolios
Attempting balance
The delay in formation of council of ministers is due to party taking time to accommodate the senior MLAs, ex-ministers, and new faces in the council of ministers. They are zeroing in on getting the right balance between the six regions.