Madhya Pradesh Governor critical, cabinet expansion deferred

Long overdue expansion of Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet has been deferred indefinitely owing to the serious illness of Governor Lalji Tandon, who is on a ventilator in Lucknow’s Medanta hospital.

Tandon, 85, fell sick on Friday at Lucknow where he was later put on ventilator as his condition deteriorated.

According to the hospital superintendent Dr Rakesh Kapoor, condition of the governor is critical, though he had initially shown some signs of recovery. He is unlikely to return Bhopal any time soon.

In the absence of the governor, much-awaited cabinet expansion in Madhya Pradesh has been put on hold. At present, the chief minister working with the five-member cabinet. The chief minister is under pressure from ministerial berth aspirants as well as Jyotiraditya Scindia who wants to see at least eight of his supporters in the ministry. In the 230-strong Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the chief minister can accommodate 34 ministers in the cabinet, as per parliamentary convention.

Earlier, cabinet expansion was due on May 31. All preparations had been completed and list of the probable ministers had been okayed by the high command. But, at the eleventh hour, the proposed expansion was shelved, presumably due to apprehension of possible sabotage by disgruntled MLAs in the Rajya Sabha election which is due on June 19.

Now the governor’s critical condition has fuelled speculation that the cabinet expansion might not take place before the by-election for 24 Assembly seats which is due sometime in September. The by-election has been necessitated by the resignation of the MLAs who resigned in support of Scindia in March to topple the Kamal Nath government.