In an unusual but significant move, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has appointed former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Sitaram Adivasi as member of the  Sahariya Development Authority, giving him the rank of Minister of State.

Sitaram's appointment paves the way for Forest Minister Ramnivas Rawat, as the former was in serious contention for the party ticket for a by-election in the Vijaypur Assembly constituency.

In the 2023 elections for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Rawat contested on a Congress ticket and defeated Sitaram, the BJP candidate for the Vijaypur seat.

Rawat later resigned from the Congress to join the BJP. As mandated by law, he also signed away his membership in the State Assembly to complete his move to the saffron party.

In July this year, the Mohan Yadav government inducted Rawat as a Cabinet Minister under immense pressure from the party's central command in New Delhi.

The urgency of Rawat's appointment came as a surprise, as he was the only Minister sworn in during the expansion. Now, as per rules, Rawat must be re-elected as a member of the Assembly within six months to retain his position in the state cabinet.

While Rawat has been preparing for his re-election from the same Vijaypur Assembly constituency, Sitaram was also in serious contention for the party ticket, as the former MLA was making every effort to claim the party nomination. Though simmering for a while now, tensions boiled over last month when Sitaram expressed his disenchantment with the party in the presence of Chief Minister Yadav and State Assembly Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar.

Venting his ire, Sitaram blamed Rawat for his disregard for the people in the area when he was in Congress and taunted his opponent while expressing hope that things would change for the better now that Rawat was in the BJP and had been appointed a minister.

Sitaram was sharing the dais with senior party leaders at an event held to distribute bonuses for Tendu leaf collection among area residents. The former BJP MLA also asked Rawat to keep his supporters in check to avoid a political flare-up.

Now, with Sitaram's appointment to the Sahariya Board, sources in the BJP say that the former party MLA has grudgingly agreed to give up his claims for the Vijaypur constituency by-election, while maintaining that he has yet to digest his opponent's presence in the party. Grudges aside, Sitaram's appointment hints that a fragile peace has been brokered between the two leaders, for now.

Mahya Pradesh BJP Spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said that BJP’s stand is very clear, once Ramnivas Rawat has been inducted in the Cabinet. By adjusting Sitaram Adivasi in the Authority would prove smooth sailing for Rawat in the by-election, he added.