Bhopal: Chief Minister Kamal Nath is camping in New Delhi to finalise the list of ministers. As the first round of meetings with party president Rahul Gandhi and another with general secretary AK Antony failed break the impasse, Nath is likely to hold another round of meetings with the two leaders on Saturday before flying back to Saturday.
The list contains names of several prominent party leaders who fell at the hustings but are in the line for a cabinet berth. While the CM wants to include these leaders in his cabinet, a section of the party leadership feels that leaders who triumphed in the recent election and ensured party’s return to power should be given preference. In a bid to prevent any bad-blood between partymen, Nath has already declared that “those who have won election for the first time will not be inducted in the ministry.”
Among prominent leaders, who bit the dust in the recent elections but have a strong claim over ministerial berths are former leader of opposition Ajay Singh, chief whip Ramniwas Rawat, state working president Surendra Choudhary, former Union Minister Suresh Pachauri, former minister Mukesh Nayak and others.
The party is keen to reward all those leaders, who kept the party afloat during 15-year of BJP rule and worked tirelessly to bring it back in reckoning but lost the 2018 election. Chief minister’s meeting with Gandhi, which was attended by other senior party leaders, remained inconclusive. The meeting with Antony too failed to arrive at any consensus. Sources said that unanimity eluded leaders of names of prospective ministers.
SCINDIA MANGE MORE
MP Jyotiraditya Scindia wants to ensure ministerial berth for majority of his supporters. Nath too wants his confidantes in the cabinet. Similarly, ex-CM Digvijaya Singh, who has played a major role from the background to ensure party’s return to power too wants his supporters as ministers. However, the AICC will have to pacify Scindia, who was overlooked for the post of chief minister, by accommodating a number of his supporters.
