MP poised for cabinet expansion

Bhopal, Jun 5: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan would expand his cabinet here this evening with the induction of probably five new faces, official sources said today.

The oath-taking ceremony would take place at Raj Bhavan at 1730 hrs, preparations for which had already begun at administrative level.

BJP sources said that, Mr Chouhan held a discussion with Organisational General Secretary Makhan Singh and State Party President Narayan Singh Tomar last night and again this morning at Chief Minister's residence.

Later, Mr Chouhan left for Indore while Mr Tomar and Mr Singh went to the airport to see-off him.

In view of Assembly election to be held at the end of this year, this expansion was considered probably the last one. The five-day monsoon session would start from July 7. After this, all parties would be involved in polls preparations.

Every precaution would be taken under BJP's 'Mission 2008' to avoid any simmering of dissidence during cabinet expansion. Besides this, a special attention was being paid for the caste and regional equations. Extra weightage likely to be given to the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe and women.

The chief contenders were MLAs Dhal Singh Bisen, Sunil Nayak, Lal Singh Arya, Archana Chitnis and Kailash Chawla. MLA Dhal Singh Bisen, Sunil Nayak, Lal Singh Arya, Archana Chitnis and Kailash Chawla with the inclusion of some new names Ramdayal Ahirwar, Nirmala Bhuria, Gyan Singh, Ramdayal Prabhakar and Jagannath Singh.

UNI