A week after the cabinet of Vishnu Deo Sai was constituted in Chhattisgarh, the ministers were allotted portfolios late on Friday night. Keeping to the trend of power structure overhaul, the new faces in the ministry have been given key responsibilities.
The most interesting is the allotment of the home portfolio to the 50-year-old deputy chief minister, Vijay Sharma, a first time MLA. Sharma has been accused in communal strife case in Kawardha in 2021 and is a known Hindutva face of the government. By giving him the key home portfolio, the BJP leadership has clearly indicated its political focus in the tribal state. He also has employment and science and technology departments.
Another deputy CM Arun Sao—a former state president of BJP, a lawyer by profession and a first time MLA—has been given the important portfolios like urban administration, public works department, public health engineering along with law and legislative affairs. State BJP had taken up the issue of urban development and housing under Sao’s leadership in the run up to the elections.
CM Sai has kept the important commercial tax (excise) department – one of the biggest revenue grossers for the state. This is the first time that a CM will hold the portfolio in the state. He also has general administration, mineral resources, public relations and transport departments.
Another first time MLA and former bureaucrat O.P. Choudhary has been given the key finance department – which till now had been with the chief ministers during the previous governments including the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government.
As expected, the only female minister and the youngest in cabinet, Laxmi Rajwade has been given the women and child development portfolio.
Among the old faces, powerful leader Brijmohan Agrawal has been given the school education, higher education, parliamentary affairs, religious endowments, tourism and culture portfolios—most of which he had held previously. The school education department has the highest budget of over Rs 19,000 crores in the state.
Kedar Kashyap – the senior leader and only minister from Bastar – has been given comparatively lighter responsibilities with forest and climate change, water resources, skill development and co-operatives.
Ramvichar Netam – another senior leader – has been allotted SC, ST, backward class and minorities’ development departments as well as agriculture and farmers’ development. Dayaldas Baghel – who was a minister earlier, too – has been given civil supplies and consumer protection department.
Among other first timers, Lakhanlal Dewangan has got commerce and industries and labour, Shyam Bihari Jaiswal has got the health and medical education departments while Tank Ram Verma has got sports and youth welfare, revenue and disaster management portfolios.
