Madhya Pradesh: Amid Covid-19 Crisis In State, Five Ministers To Join Shivraj Cabinet Today

Five ministers, including two from the Jyotiraditya Scindia camp, will join the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government on Tuesday (21 April) afternoon.

The new ministers are likely to be sworn in by Governor Lalji Tandon between 12 and 2.30 pm.

Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said caste and gender equations will be balanced in the new team.

The new ministers will be -- Narottam Mishra (Brahmin), Tulsiram Silawat (Scheduled Caste), Govind Singh Rajput (Thakur), Meena Singh (Scheduled Tribe) and Kamal Patel (OBC).

Scindia was insisting on at least six persons to be included from among the 22 who joined the BJP last month.

After a long haggling, the BJP leadership has settled for two to be included in the first lot.

Meena Singh would be the sole woman minister. The next expansion is unlikely before the Rajya Sabha elections, said the sources.

The development comes amid the increasing number of Corona cases in the state. Madhya Pradesh has so far reported as many as 1485 Covid-19 cases and 74 deaths while 127 people have recovered.

(With inputs from IANS)