Madhya Pradesh cabinet: Chouhan bows down to the over-75 rule as Shah's writ runs on new ministers

Cabinet expansions had always been a breeze for Madhya Pradesh’s three-term Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan. His mentor and veteran leader LK Advani’s affection would ensure a quick nod from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s high command for Chouhan’s choice of ministers.

But Thursday’s cabinet expansion in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh was anything but smooth. For the first time, Chouhan had to forgo his preferred cabinet colleagues, party sources said. Instead, the party leadership made him accommodate eight faces, including three former ministers, against his wishes.

Of the nine newly inducted ministers, only Surya Prakash Meena, a minister of state, is said to be of the chief minister’s choosing.

Kept in the dark?

Home Minister Babulal Gaur, 86, and 76-year-old Public Works Department Minister Sartaj Singh were asked to resign, ostensibly because of the age criterion – an upper limit of 75 – set by the party high command for retaining a minister’s post.

However, two days ahead of the expansion, Chouhan had said no existing minister would be dropped. Clearly, he was not consulted about the imminent ousters.

This is the first cabinet expansion in the state since Chouhan led the BJP to victory for the third time in 2013. At the time, he had formed a 22-member cabinet, which he promised to expand soon – as per Constitutional provisions, there was room for 11 more ministers. However, Chouhan kept dithering on the promise. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah took the reigns of the party, heralding the end of the Advani era.

This was the first Madhya Pradesh cabinet expansion since Chouhan led the Bhartiya Janata party to victory for a third time in December 2013. He had formed a 22-member cabinet then with the promise to expand it soon. He kept dithering on the promise even as the Modi-Amit Shah duo took control of the BJP, heralding the end of the Advani era.

The mark of Shah

The expansion bears Shah’s unmistakable stamp.

Chouhan reportedly wanted at least one minister from Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, which elected 10 BJP members to the 230-strong state assembly – but that did not happen.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who has been representing Indore as a Member of Parliament since 1989, was betting on a post for her acolyte and two-term MLA from the city, Sudarshan Gupta. Her archrival and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya wanted to see his confidante Ramesh Mandola in the cabinet.

Chouhan, looking to strike a balance, was inclined to include both, but Shah nixed the plans of both Bhai, as Vijayvargiya is called, and Tai (Mahajan).

The BJP high command snubbed the chief minister further by clearing the re-induction of three former ministers – Archana Chitinis, Om Prakash Dhurve and Rustam Singh.

Chouhan had excluded Chitnis from the cabinet after his re-election in 2013, reportedly under pressure from state BJP president Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan. Both Chitnis and Nand Kumar are from Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh and are said to be bitter rivals.

The chief minister, too, was miffed with Chitnis because she would allegedly flaunt her connections with some top party leaders.

Singh, a retired Indian Police Services officer, lost his place in the cabinet in 2013 because of his alleged outspokenness. The chief minister is said to dislike him. This time around, however, the officer-turned–politician managed to convince the high command that he was integral to their fight against Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party in the Chambal region that adjoins Uttar Pradesh. Both parties are dominant in Uttar Pradesh, but have made inroads into parts of Madhya Pradesh, including Chambal.

Singh belongs to Gurjar caste which has sizeable population in the Bhind-Morena area of Chambal. Singh is also the MLA from Morena.

Dhurve was the lone BJP minister to lose his place in Chouhan's cabinet after he was indicted by the Lokayukta – the anti-corruption ombudsman – in 2006, for alleged favouritism towards a contractor when he served as food and civil supplies minister and chairman of the state civil supplies corporation. He was later acquitted.

Jai Bhan Singh Pawaiya, the former national convenor of Bajrang Dal national – a hardline rightwing organisation – owes his induction to his purported connection with Modi. Conscious of his image as an inclusive leader, Chouhan was supposedly not in favour of giving a berth to Pawaiya.

To Chouhan’s embarrassment, Pawaiya displayed his characteristic belligerence during the oath-taking ceremony too. On learning that he was to be sworn in as a minister of state, Pawaiya rose to walk out. It was only after the chief minister’s aides assured him of a cabinet rank that he relented to take oath.

The other ministers who were inducted are Vishwas Sarang, an MLA from Narula, mining baron Sanjay Pathak, Lalita Yadav and Harsh Singh. The portfolios of the newly inducted ministers are likely to be allotted on Saturday.

BJP insiders said the chief minister had anticipated trouble with the Shah-led high command, but had been confident of persuading senior leaders of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, its ideological parent, to give him a free hand, with the 2018 state elections in mind.

However, the two days of hectic parleys in the lead up to the cabinet expansion left him dejected, party sources said. Chouhan’s list of probables kept witnessing additions and deletions and eventually, it was Shah’s approval that paved the way.