Disease and unease

Chouhan may have to deal with discord in his party before byelections to the assembly

- SRAVANI SARKAR

Shivraj Singh Chouhan looked suitably sombre during the swearing-in of his cabinet ministers on April 21. His day had started with the news of a police inspector in Ujjain succumbing to Covid-19, the second such death in Madhya Pradesh within 48 hours. Naturally, the shadow of the pandemic hung heavy as Govind Singh Rajput, Kamal Patel, Meena Singh, Narottam Mishra and Tulsiram Silawat were sworn in.

The cabinet formation came almost a month after Chouhan became chief minister in dramatic fashion; the Kamal Nath government was toppled by defecting Congress MLAs and the BJP returned to power.

Chouhan attributed the delay in appointing ministers to the pandemic and said more would be appointed after lifting the lockdown. Political analysts, however, felt that Chouhan kept the cabinet small because of other compulsions. Basically, it was the BJP central leadership that had pushed through the decision, under pressure from the Congress, and Chouhan did not have much say in the matter, including in the choice of ministers.

There are too many strong contenders for cabinet posts, including BJP heavyweights and 22 former Congress MLAs who recently joined the party along with former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. At least 10 of them were promised ministerial berths.

The BJP does not want political dissension to boil over, said analysts, when the pandemic is worsening and Madhya Pradesh has the third-highest death toll in the country.