Bhopal: The Shivraj Singh Chauhan ministry was expanded on Sunday with the inclusion of 19 cabinet ministers and 10 ministers of state.
Chauhan is the third Chief Minister to assume office in Madhya Pradesh since the BJP came to power with a three-fourths mandate two years ago.
The 39 ministers, including two women, were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Balram Jakhar at the Raj Bhavan. Chauhan, who represents Vidisha in the Lok Sabha, was sworn in on November 28 as the Chief Minister.
The ministers of cabinet rank are former chief minister Babulal Gaur, Raghavji Bhai, Himmat Kothari, Jayant Malaiya, Narendra Singh Tomar, Narottam Mishra, Rampal Singh, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Gopal Bhargava, Anup Mishra, Kusum Singh Mehendale, Choudhary Chandrabhan Singh, Ramakant Tiwari, Kunwar Vijay Shah, Kamal Patel, Antar Singh Arya, Jagdish Deora, Ajay Vishnoi and Rustam Singh.
The ministers of state are Lakshmikant Sharma, Prakash Sonkar,Tukojirao Pawar, Moti Kashyap, Paras Chand Jain, Jugal Kishore Bagri, Meena Singh, Nagendra Singh, Gangaram Patel and Narayan Singh Kushwaha.
However, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, who was to take oath as cabinet minister, did not turn up for the ceremony.
As many as 11 members of the outgoing Gaur cabinet, including former chief minister Uma Bharti's staunch supporters Gaurishankar Shejwar, Dhal Singh Bisen and Karan Singh Verma, did not find a place in the ministry.
The three were among the 13 legislators who accompanied Uma as she stormed out of a legislature party meeting that formally elected Chouhan as its leader.
The BJP served showcause notices but about half of them later tendered their apology.
Kailash Chawla, a prominent face in the Gaur cabinet, was also missing from the list. He will reportedly be entrusted with a "crucial responsibility" in the BJP organisation.
Seven other dropped names are Uma Shankar Gupta, Archana Chitnis, Omprakash Dhurve, Badrilal Yadav, Lavkesh Singh, Gopilal Jatav and Rajendra Shukla.
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