Chhattisgarh cabinet expanded; 3 first-term MLAs take oath as ministers

Three BJP MLAs were inducted into Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s cabinet in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, raising its strength to 14, the highest in the state’s history which traditionally had a 13-member cabinet.

Governor Ramen Deka administered the oath of office and secrecy to BJP legislators Rajesh Agrawal, Guru Khushwant Saheb and Gajendra Yadav, all first-time MLAs, at a function held in the Raj Bhavan.

The portfolios of the newly-appointed ministers were yet to be announced.

CM Sai, assembly speaker Raman Singh, state ministers and other leaders attended the function.

Since the formation of the state (in 2000), which has a 90-member assembly, 13 MLAs, including the chief minister, have traditionally been part of the cabinet.

Before this expansion, the Chhattisgarh cabinet had 11 members, including CM Sai.

The Chhattisgarh has adopted the “Haryana model,” where 14 ministers, including the CM, serve in a 90-member assembly, according to sources.

The constitutional provisions allow that the size of a state’s Council of Ministers, including the CM, cannot exceed 15 per cent of the total strength of the assembly.

For Chhattisgarh, with 90 members, the limit comes to 13.5, which makes room for 14 cabinet members.

The expanded cabinet reflects a balance of caste and regional representation.

Of the three newly inducted ministers, Yadav hails from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, Saheb from Scheduled Caste and Agrawal from the general category.

The Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state by ousting the Congress in the 2023 assembly polls.

The BJP won 54 seats, while the Congress emerged victorious in 35 seats and the Gondwana Gantantra Party in one.