Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced the cabinet expansion last week.

Bhopal:

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet in Madhya Pradesh — which had been functioning so far with only five members — will have around 25 new members soon, BJP sources said today. On Sunday, Mr Chouhan went to Delhi to discuss the matter with the party’s Central leadership.

Last week, the Chief Minister had announced the cabinet expansion. Sources said the COVID-19 crisis and the Rajya Sabha elections held on June 19 delayed the cabinet expansion.

Of the new ministers, around 15 will be from the BJP, the sources said. The rest would be former Congressmen, who switched sides along with senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia in March, bringing down the Congress government led by Kamal Nath.

Twenty-three MLAs had changed sides with with Jyotiraditya Scindia, most of them are considered close to him. Mr Scindia was accommodated in the Rajya Sabha by the BJP earlier this month.

Mr Chouhan had taken oath in March, days before the countrywide lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On April 21, five ministers took oath.

Two of the five ministers were former Congress MLAs. Tulsi Silawat and Govind Singh Rajput were part of the Kamal Nath cabinet, Narottam Mishra, Kamal Patel and Meena Singh, who also took oath, were from the BJP.

The visit of Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, who has been given additional charge of Madhya Pradesh, to Bhopal on Monday has been postponed, reported news agency Press Trust of India, quoting sources.