BHOPAL: While Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan takes his time in allocating portfolios to the newly inducted 28 ministers, the opposition Congress is planning to move the Supreme Court over the number of ministers not conforming to relevant constitutional provisions.
The Congress party has alleged that the 34 strong council of ministers, which includes the CM also exceeds the maximum number of ministers prescribed under Article 164 (1)(a) of the Constitution.
Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha tweeted, "Shivraj ji has violated the law again. First he ran the government without a cabinet, when the matter was complained to the President of India, he inducted only five ministers, which was less than minimum requirement of 12 ministers. He again violated the law by inducting on Thursday more ministers than 15% of the present 206 strength of the state legislature. The Congress will move the court against the illegal council of ministers."
Tankha confirmed to The New Indian Express on Friday that the party through it's battery of advocates was working on moving the Supreme Court in the issue.
The Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution clearly reads, “The total number of ministers, including the chief minister, in the council of ministers in a state shall not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly of that state. In MP’s case, the actual strength of Vidhan Sabha presently is only 206, which means the number of members in the council of ministers cannot exceed 30.9. But after Thursday’s cabinet expansion, the total strength of the council of ministers, including the CM is 34.”
“We’ll move the SC and submit that while the minimum requirement of 12 ministers was fulfilled initially, now the number of ministers post cabinet expansion has exceeded the maximum limit stipulated clearly in the Constitution,” Tankha said.
Protests by supporters of BJP MLAs who missed ministerial berths continue
Meanwhile, protests by supporters of many BJP MLAs who missed ministerial berths are gathering momentum across the state. On Thursday, it was supporters of BJP MLAs Yashpal Singh Sisodia (Mandsaur) and Ramesh Mendola (Indore-II) who protested in Mandsaur and Indore respectively.
The protests continued as supporters of other BJP MLAs, including Gayatri Raje Puar (Dewas), Rajendra Pandey (Jaora-Ratlam), Mahendra Hardia (Indore-V), Rajendra Shukla (Rewa) and Paras Jain (Ujjain) too have reportedly expressed their disappointment over their leaders not being included in the expanded team of ministers.
Also, ex-CM and former union minister Uma Bharti too is reportedly disappointed over Thursday’s cabinet expansion, ignoring her suggestions about her Bundelkhand region and the OBC Lodhi caste.