Months ahead of the crucial assembly elections, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is likely to go for a cabinet expansion to keep in mind the under-represented constituency or woo the voters of key electoral seats. According to reports, the cabinet expansion is likely to take place around 7 p.m. today.
As per reports, Rajendra Shukla, Gaurishankar Bisen and Rahul Lodhi can be inducted into the Chouhan cabinet. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met Governor Mangubhai Patel on Tuesday and since then, there has been discussion about long-awaited cabinet expansion. Three ministerial posts are still vacant in the Shivraj cabinet. While a cabinet expansion is likely today, no formal announcement has been made in this regard so far, reported ABP News.
The names of Gauri Shankar Bisen, Rajendra Shukla and Rahul Lodhi are doing the rounds as future ministers of the Shivraj cabinet. Rahul Lodhi is the nephew of former Chief Minister Uma Bharti. He has been elected as MLA for the first time from the Kharagpur assembly seat of Tikamgarh.
Gaurishankar Bisen has been elected as an MLA for the 7th time from Balaghat. He was elected MLA in 1985, 1990, 1993 and 2003. He has been a member and chairman of several committees of the Vidhansabha. He has held the post of Director of District Cooperative Bank and Bhumi Vikas Bank Balaghat and Vice President of Balaghat District BJP. Bisen also won the Lok Sabha elections in 1998 and 2004. He was made the Vice President of Madhya Pradesh BJP thrice.
Rajendra Shukla has been elected as an MLA four times from the Rewa seat. He is considered a big face of the BJP in the Vindhya region. Shukla was first elected as an MLA in 2003. Since then he has been winning elections continuously. In 2018, the BJP had captured all eight seats in the Rewa district of Vindhya. Rajendra Shukla has been a minister in the MP government before.
Madhya Pradesh will go to the polls around November this year with Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeking another term as the Chief Minister. MP Assembly has 230 seats. In the 2018 polls, the Congress had restricted the BJP to less than majority mark forming government in the state. However, a rebellion led by Jyotiraditya Scindia led to the collapse of the Congress government, reinstating Shivranj Singh Chouhan at the helm once again.
