With assembly elections due later this year in Madhya Pradesh, the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday has expanded his cabinet. According to the sources, 3 more MLAs have been included in his cabinet. These three MLAs took the ministerial oath at a function in the Raj Bhavan in Saturday.It is to be noted here that the state ministry had 31 members before announcing the expansion, including the CM. But, as per constitutional norms, the number can go up to 35, that is 15% of the strength of the MP assembly which has 230 members. The last expansion of cabinet in Chouhans government took place in January 2021.राजभवन, भोपाल में आयोजित शपथ ग्रहण समारोह https://t.co/F2pLXpykPL— Chief Minister, MP (@CMMadhyaPradesh) August 26, 2023Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is serving his fourth term as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and is the longest serving Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and is looking to balance caste equations and address regional aspirations with this expansion ahead of the State polls.Notably, Madhya Pradesh is among one of the five states which was scheduled for the assembly polls, before 2024 Lok Sabha elections.Newly inducted ministers:One of the new ministers is Rajendra Shukla, a four-term MLA from the Vindh regions Rewa Constituency. Previously, Shukla worked for the Madhya Pradesh government as the minister of commerce.The second new name in the government is Gaurishankar Bisen, a Rajput politician from the Balaghar Constituency district of Mahakoshal who previously served as a minister under Shivraj Singh Chouhan.OBCs make up about 40% of the states population, and OBC politician Rahul Lodhi from Kharagpur has been included in Shivraj Singh Chouhans cabinet. In a byelection held in May 2021, he won election to the Damoh Constituency.
