Tribal MLA from Sitapur assembly constituency Amarjeet Bhagat is tipped to be inducted into Bhupesh Baghel’s cabinet to fill the vacant 13th ministerial slot.
Sources in the ruling party claimed, chances of Amarjeet getting a coveted ministerial berth brightened after the AICC on Friday elevated Mohan Markam, another MLA from a tribal-dominated constituency, as Pradesh Congress chief, replacing Chief Minister Baghel.
Senior Congress leader T.S. Singhdeo had already hinted during the selection process of PCC Chief that a tribal leader from Bastar region would be made state president of the party while Amarjeet from tribal dominated Surguja region could be given the ministerial post as per his wish.
Notable, Baghel inducted only 12 ministers in the state cabinet, leaving a ministerial post vacant in order to pacify the possible dissidents who would vie for the ministerial berth.
Senior leaders like former PCC Chief Dhanendra Sahu, former ministers Satyanarayan Sharma and Amitesh Shukla were also the front runners for the ministerial berth at that time.
Amarjeet, who has been elected third time as an MLA, was also a strong contender for the post as Congress swept the assembly polls in Surguja region by winning all the 14 assembly seats.
Being a senior tribal legislator from the region he was expecting to be the minister in the Baghel cabinet.
He even vowed not to return to his constituency till he was allotted a ministerial portfolio, but Baghel had pacified him, assuring that soon his wish would be fulfilled.
It seems that the long cherished dream of Amarjeet is finally going to be fulfilled as there is now every possibility that he would be rewarded with a ministerial berth, Congress sources added. But then in politics, there can be many a slip between the cup and the lip, the sources warned.