Ahead of the Assembly elections which are due later this year, a Cabinet expansion in Madhya Pradesh will take place on Saturday. Three new faces- Jalam Singh Patel, Narayan Singh Kushwaha and Balkrishna Patidar- are likely to be inducted.
The Cabinet expansion of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will take place on Saturday at the Governor House at 9.30 am.
Jalam Singh is a brother of former Union Minister Prahlad Patel, while Narayan Singh Kushaha was a Minister of State for Home in the previous regime of Chief Minister. Balkrishna Patidar hails from Khargone.
The Chouhan-led Government, in its third term, has 20 Cabinet Ministers, including the Chief Minister and nine Ministers of State since December 2013. The State can have a maximum of 35 ministers as per the Constitutional provisions.
In July 2016, Babulal Gaur and Sartaj Singh were removed from the cabinet.
Meanwhile, the State Congress has submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission and written a letter to the Governor saying that the BJP government cannot carry out a cabinet expansion, as the model code of conduct is in force ahead of February 24 Assembly by-polls in Mungaoli and Kolaras.
In the memorandum to the EC, State Congress president Arun Yadav demanded that the proposed cabinet expansion be postponed till February 28.
In the letter to the Governor, Yadav said, "This expansion or reshuffle would be against the Constitutional traditions. The proposed cabinet expansion, if any, is directly or indirectly a way to influence the electorate."
Chief Electoral Officer of Madhya Pradesh Salina Singh said she has forwarded the memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI).