Bhopal: After ensuring his stamp on the Madhya Pradesh cabinet, BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia alleged on Thursday “atmosphere of corruption” prevailed in the state during the Congress’s 15-month rule. State Congress leaders who are trying to malign his image should know that "the tiger is still alive", he added. "The people of Madhya Pradesh are very much aware that during the 15-month rule of the Congress government, an atmosphere of corruption prevailed. Promises made to the people were not fulfilled," Scindia said after attending a state cabinet expansion in Bhopal.
"The BJP government is under the leadership of (chief minister) Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has always adopted the path of service of people...(so) I am sure in the coming 24 Assembly by-polls, the BJP's flag will fly high in all the seats and people will give a befitting reply to the 15-month long government of corruption," he said.
To reported resentment among BJP workers about Chouhan's expanded cabinet not balancing caste and regional aspirations and overlooking claims of several leaders, Scindia said, "Minister's post is not a gift. It is a responsibility which the leadership gives to every servant of the people.
Cabinet gets 28 new ministers
Earlier, Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to the new ministers at Raj Bhavan. COVID-19 protocols were followed at the ceremony. With the new additions, the Chouhan ministry strength is now 34. It can still have one more minister.
This is the second expansion of the Chouhan cabinet. The first one was on April 21 where 5 ministers, including 2 former Cong MLAs close to Scindia—Tulsi Silawat and Govind Singh Rajput—were inducted. Former BJP ministers—Gopal Bhargava, Vijay Shah, Jagdish Devda, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, Bhupendra Singh, Brajendra Pratap Singh and Vishwas Sarang—were among those inducted on Thursday.
From Jyotiraditya Scindia camp, Bisahulal Singh, Aidal Singh Kansana Imarti Devi, Prabhuram Choudhary, Mahendra Singh Sisodia,Pyadyumna Singh Tomar, Hardeep Singh Dang, Rajwardhan Singh Dattigaon were inducted as cabinet ministers, while Brajendra Singh Yadav, Girraj Dandotia, Suresh Dhakad and OPS Bhadoria were sworn in as ministers of state. From BJP, Prem Singh Patel, Om Prakash Saklecha, Usha Thakur, Arvind Bhadoria and Mohan Yadav were inducted as cabinet ministers, while Bharat Singh Kushwaha, Inder Singh Parmar, Ramkhelavan Patel and Ram Kishore Kavre took oath as minister of state.
