Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan undertook a strategic move on August 26 by expanding his cabinet for the first time during his current tenure. Adding three prominent leaders, Rewa’s Rajendra Shukla, Balaghat’s Gauri Shankar Bisen, and Kharagpur’s Rahul Singh Lodhi, marks a significant gesture. Governor Mangubhai Patel presided over the swearing-in ceremony, where Lodhi took an oath as a minister of state, whereas Shukla and Bisen were inducted as cabinet ministers.
This expansion holds particular importance as it unfolds mere months before November’s scheduled state assembly elections. Chouhan, who resumed the chief minister’s role in March 2020 after the dramatic collapse of the Kamal Nath government due to the defection of 22 Congress MLAs, has faced challenges in crafting a balanced cabinet. With the induction of the defecting Congress MLAs into the BJP, orchestrated by Jyotiraditya Scindia, many stalwart BJP leaders, especially those loyal to Chouhan, found themselves sidelined.
However, the recent expansion rectifies this imbalance to some extent. Shukla and Bisen, known as close allies of Chouhan, have now been rewarded with cabinet positions. This move is an attempt to placate potential dissent within party ranks and to realign the power dynamics.
Political analysts opine that while the expansion signals a significant political manoeuvre, the newly inducted ministers have limited time to showcase their effectiveness given the looming model code of conduct, anticipated to commence by early October. This provides a narrow window of just over a month for these ministers to make impactful contributions. The key message from this reshuffle is the emphasis on loyalty, regional representation, and the underlying politics of appeasement.