Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath distributes portfolios, Bala Bachchan gets Home, Bhanot finance

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath distributed portfolios to his cabinet Friday evening, keeping Public Relations, Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Department and Employment Department among others with himself, an official said. Tribal MLA Bala Bachchan, who was minister in the previous Digvijay Singh-led Congress government, was given Home and Jail, while another senior MLA, Tulsi Silawat, got Health, the Public Relations department official said. Govind Rajput was allocated Revenue and Transport department, while Tarun Bhanot was given the Finance department. Nath also kept Public Service Management department and the Technical Education with him, he said.

MLA Prabhuram Choudhary, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste community, was given School Education, he said. Another Digvijay Singh cabinet member, Vijaylaxmi Sadho, got Culture and Medical Education Department. Hukum Singh Karada, also a minister in the previous Congress government, got Water Resources Development. Another former senior minister Dr Govind Singh was given Cooperatives and Parliamentary Affairs.

Sajjan Singh Verma, who was Urban Administration Minister in Digvijay Singh government, has got the Public Works Department in Kamal Nath's cabinet, the official said. Arif Aqueel, the lone Muslim minister, got Minorities and Other Backward Class Welfare, besides Bhopal Gas Relief and Rehabilitation.

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Jaivardhan Singh, Digvijay Singh's son, was given Urban Administration Department. Jaivardhan, 32, is the youngest minister in the cabinet. Sachin Yadav, 36, younger brother of former state Congress chief and ex-Union minister Arun Yadav, was given Agriculture and Food Processing Department.

Woman minister Imarati Devi was given Women and Child Department. Pradeep Jaiswal, lone independent MLA in the cabinet, was given Mining, he said. Umang Singhar was given Forest Department, while Jitu Patwari was allocated Sports and Youth Affairs besides Higher Education Department.

Brijendra Singh Rathore got Commercial Tax, Lakhan Singh Yadav Animal Husbandry, Omkar Markam Scheduled Tribes Welfare, Sukhdeo Panse Public Health Engineering, Harsh Yadav New and Renewable Energy and Cottage and Village Industries, Kamleshwar Patel Panchayat and Rural Development, Lakhan Ghanghoriya Social Justice and SC Welfare.

PC Sharma was given Law and Legislative Affairs, Surendra Singh Baghel Narmada Valley Development and Tourism Department, Pradyumn Singh Tomar Food and Civil Supplies, Mahendra Singh Sisodiya Labour Department and Priyavrat Singh Energy Department, the official said.

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Nath, who took oath as the 18th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh on December 17, had expanded his cabinet on December 25 by inducting 28 ministers. The Congress returned to power in the state after a hiatus of 15 years by ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Though the Congress, with 114 seats, depends on the support of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, which have won two seats and one, respectively, no MLA from these two smaller parties has got a berth in the cabinet. A five-day session of the newly-elected Assembly is slated to begin from January 7.