Mohan Yadav-led Government’s first Cabinet expansion took place on Monday. Gwalior-Chambal region’s prominent leader, Ram Niwas Rawat sworn-in as Cabinet Minister. Before the Lok Sabha elections, Rawat’s switch to BJP from Congress was being seen as a major jolt. He has represented a six-time MLA from Vijaypur constituency in Sheopur six times. Saffron party has rewarded him with the Cabinet berth. Rawat is a prominent OBC leader from Chambal and one of the most active leader during Assembly session. Mistakenly, he has to take oath two times within 15 minutes. First he was sworn-in as Minister of State (MoS) and later to rectify mistake he again he took oath again as a Cabinet minister. While the initial function was held at the Sandipani auditorium in the Raj Bhawan, the same programme was later held in the Darbar Hall of the Governor House.

 

Governor Mangubhai Patel again administered the oath of office and Secrecy to Rawat in the Darbar Hall in the presence of CM Yadav and other dignitaries. Rawat then took oath as ‘Rajya Ke Mantri’, the official said. With Rawat’s entry, the Yadav ministry has acquired yet another OBC face. Of the ministers, 11 are OBCs, followed by 11 upper castes, six belonging to SCs, and four STs. On this occasion, CM Yadav highlighted his long stint in political and public life saying ‘“as a minister, his experience will benefit the entire Cabinet and all residents of the State.” The trigger for Rawat’s exit from the Congress was the party declaring Satyapal Singh Sikravar, a former MLA from Neetu, as its candidate for the Morena Lok Sabha seat. In 1990, this OBC leader formally entered in to electoral politics from Vijaypur, and retained the seat in 1993.

 

After the BJP wrested the seat in 1998, he regained it in 2003 and retained it in 2008 and 2013. Even though the BJP won back the Vijaypur seat in 2018, Rawat won again in 2023 as a Congress candidate. This is despite the Congress being wiped out from most of the state, barring the Gwalior-Chambal region. The Cabinet expansion is the first since the BJP’s victory in the Assembly elections in December 2023. While Yadav took oath as CM on December 11, Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Devda were sworn in as Deputy CMs on December 13.