Bhopal: On Monday, December 25, 2023, the long-awaited cabinet expansion of Madhya Pradesh took place at Raj Bhavan in Bhopal. Governor Mangu Bhai Patel administered the oath of office and secrecy to 28 MLAs of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The swearing-in ceremony started at around 3:30 pm and lasted for about an hour.
Cabinet Composition
Out of the 28 new ministers, 18 have been given the rank of cabinet minister, six have been given the rank of minister of state (independent charge), and four have been given the rank of minister of state. The cabinet now has a total of 34 members, including the chief minister.
The list of cabinet ministers is as follows:
- Pradumna Singh Tomar
- Tulsi Silavat
- Edal Singh Kasana
- Narayan Singh Kushwaha
- Vijay Shah
- Rakesh Singh
- Prahlad Patel
- Kailash Vijayvargiya
- Karan Singh Verma
- Sampatia Uike
- Uday Pratap Singh
- Nirmala Bhuria
- Vishwas Sarang
- Govind Singh Rajput
- Inder Singh Parmar
- Nagar Singh Chauhan
- Chaitanya Kashyap
- Rakesh Shukla
The list of ministers of state (independent charge) is as follows:
- Krishna Gaur
- Dharmendra Lodhi
- Dilip Jaiswal
- Gautam Tetwal
- Lekhan Patel
- Narayan Pawar
The list of ministers of state is as follows:
- Radha Singh
- Pratima Bagri
- Dilip Ahirwar
- Narendra Shivaji Patel
The first three ministers to take the oath were Kailash Vijayvargiya, Prahlad Patel, and Rao Uday Pratap Singh.
Guests and Supporters
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by several prominent BJP leaders, including Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, BJP State President VD Sharma, and officials of the organization. Scindia, who had quit the Congress and joined the BJP in March 2020, is considered to be the key architect of the BJP’s return to power in Madhya Pradesh after the fall of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government.
Thousands of supporters of the new ministers also gathered outside the Raj Bhavan to witness the historic event. They cheered and celebrated as their leaders took the oath of office. Some of them also distributed sweets and played drums to express their joy.
New and Old Faces
Among the 28 new ministers, 13 have become ministers for the first time in their political careers. They are:
- Krishna Gaur
- Narendra Shivaji Patel
- Sampatiya Uike
- Nirmala Bhuria
- Nagar Singh Chauhan
- Chetanya Kashyap
- Dharmendra Lodhi
- Dilip Jaiswal
- Gautam Tetwal
- Lakhan Patel
- Narayan Pawar
- Radha Singh
- Pratima Bagri
Six of the new ministers have previously served as ministers in the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government, which was in power from 2018 to 2020. They are:
- Tulsi Silavat
- Vijay Shah
- Govind Singh Rajput
- Vishwas Sarang
- Inder Singh Parmar
- Pradyuman Singh Tomar
The remaining nine new ministers have either served as ministers in earlier BJP governments or have been elected as MLAs for the first time in 2020.
Exclusion of Former Ministers
The cabinet expansion also saw the exclusion of 10 former ministers who were part of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government. They are:
- Gopal Bhargava
- Bhupendra Singh
- Bisahulal Singh
- Brijendra Pratap Singh
- Hardeep Singh Dung
- Prabhuram Chaudhary
- Brijendra Singh Yadav
- Usha Thakur
- Om Prakash Sakhalecha
- Meena Singh
The reasons for their exclusion are not clear, but some of them are speculated to be unhappy with the decision and may voice their dissent in the future.
