The much-awaited Cabinet expansion of Shivraj Government took place on Sunday. Tulsiram Silawat and Govind Singh Rajput, both supporters of BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, took oath as ministers. Governor Anandiben Patel administered oath of office to both of them. On the occasion, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Protem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma, Tribal Welfare Minister Meena Singh, Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel, Mineral Resources Minister Brijendra Pratap Singh, Minister Vishwas Sarang, Health Minister Dr Prabhuram Chaudhary, MSME Minister Omprakash Saklecha, Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Minister Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon, Minister of State (independent charge) Bharat Singh Kushwah and others were present.

 

Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains conducted the programme. This is the first Cabinet expansion of Shivraj Government post Assembly by-elections. Before by-elections, six month tenure of Tulsiram Silawat and Govind Singh Rajput as Minister without getting elected came to an end and on technical grounds they had to tender their resignations. In by-elections held for 28 Assembly seats, Tulsiram Silawat and Govind Singh Rajput won their traditional seats.

 

Hence it was speculated that sooner or later, both will be taken back into the Cabinet. It is learnt that Tulsiram Silawat will get Water Resources Department while Govind Singh Rajput will get Transport Department respectively. Before by-elections, both the ministers were handling aforesaid departments. During oath-taking ceremony of both the ministers, DGP Vivek Johri and Madhya Pradesh Assembly Principal Secretary A P Singh were present.