MP: Forest Minister Ram Niwas Rawat's Resignation Accepted; Tribal Leaders Ahead In Run

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Forest Minister Ram Niwas Rawat's resignation has been accepted on December 2 and the official notification was issued on Wednesday night (December 4). The resignation comes 12 days after he faced a defeat in Vijaypur assembly bypolls.

Rawat submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav after he returned from his UK-Germany visit. The CM, then, forwarded it to Governor Mangu Bhai Patel as part of the protocol.

Nagar Singh Chauhan, Vijay Shah names on list

After Rawat's resignation, the position of forest department has fallen vacant. The department has started looking for a new forest minister. Preference will be given to a tribal leader. Names of former forest ministers Nagar Singh Chauhan and Vijay Shah are on the list. They not only hold the experience, but also hail from tribal community, which makes them more ideal for the post

Reportedly, Former forest minister Nagar Singh Chauhan served the Ministry from December 2023 until July 2024, while Vijay Shah served the Ministry from 2020 until November 2023.

According to local media reports, the government may assign him a new post.

The Vijaypur debacle!

Notably, Ramniwas Rawat lost to Congress' Mukesh Malhotra by 7,364 votes in Vijaypur Assembly by-polls. He represented Vijaypur six times as a Congress MLA. Only six months after winning 2023 assembly polls, he left Congress and joined BJP.

After facing defeat, he alleged that some BJP leaders hatched a conspiracy to defeat him. However, the BJP state President VD Sharma rejected all the allegations. He even held a close-door meeting with Rawat two after the bypoll results were announced.