It is not yet official, but a move may be underway to induct Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan into the Union cabinet with a portfolio commensurate with his senior position, a Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary told Scroll.in.
“Though it is not clear whether he will be given the Defence Ministry, the issue of bringing Chouhan to Delhi is being considered seriously by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah,” this official said.
A place came open in the Union Council of Ministers on Monday when Manohar Parrikar resigned as Defence Minister so that he could take over as Goa’s chief minister. Although Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been given the additional charge of defence, this is being seen in the party as a temporary arrangement.
Simultaneously, the BJP brass is also in the midst of finalising a candidate to replace Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh.
According to officials, Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has emerged as the front-runner to take over as Madhya Pradesh chief minister. A former president of the BJP’s unit in Madhya Pradesh, Tomar is known for his close association with both Modi and Chouhan.
Vyapam scam
Party insiders feel that replacing Chouhan with Tomar would give Modi a more pliable chief minister in the crucial state. It would also help party evade the possible impact of the Vyapam scam in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election scheduled to be held merely months before the next Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
The Vyapam cash-for-jobs scam has rocked Chouhan’s third term as the chief minister. There is widespread fear in the BJP that anger about this could erupt in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
Officials say that moving Chouhan may be part of a major cabinet reshuffle that would allow Modi to tighten his grip over the government and the party following the BJP’s landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
These officials claimed that a cabinet shake-up has become necessary because the Prime Minister’s Office is of the view that some key ministers are not discharging their duties fully.
Though the timing of the reshuffle is yet to be worked out, party insiders believe that this might happen after the Budget session of Parliament.
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