MP cabinet expansion: Three MLAs inducted as miners

Madhya Pradesh chief miner Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday expanded his cabinet and inducted three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs– Gauri Shankar Bisen, Rajendra Shukla and Rahul Lodhi, as miners. Madhya Pradesh chief miner Shivraj Singh Chouhan (File Photo) The expansion came in just months ahead of the state assembly polls scheduled for the end of this year. Governor Mangubhai Patel adminered the oath of office as miner to the three legislators at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday morning. While Bisen and Shukla were adminered oaths of office and secrecy as cabinet miners, Lodhi was adminered the oath of miner of state. Bisen is a former miner, a seven-time MLA from Balaghat and who is also the chairman of the MP Backward Class Commission. Shukla is also a former miner, a Brahmin leader and four-time MLA from Rewa Both leaders were unhappy after they were not included in the cabinet in 2020. Rahul Lodhi, a BJP MLA from Khargapur, Tikamgarh, has been included in the council of miners for the first time. He is a nephew of former chief miner Uma Bharti. In MP, there are about 9% Lodhi voters who have influence in over 65 assembly constituencies. Bisen and Lodhi belong to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community, which makes up more than 45% of the population of Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, the name of BJP MLA from Narsinghpur Jalam Patel, the brother of Union miner Prahlad Patel, was also on the l but was dropped after dissent among BJP leaders to include him as miner. With the inclusion of three new miners, there are now 34 members in the CM Chouhan-led cabinet. ABOUT THE AUTHOR She is a senior reporter based at Bhopal. She covers higher education, social issues, youth affairs, woman and child development related issues, sports and business & industries. …view detail