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Updated July 29th, 2021 at 08:25 IST

Chhattisgarh CM mocks BJP over turncoats; asks 'why no Cabinet berth for Raman Singh?'

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel took a dig at BJP for rewarding leaders from other parties with plum posts and ignoring their loyalists in the process.

Reported by: Akhil Oka
Chhattisgarh
Image: PTI | Image:self
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Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel took a dig at BJP for rewarding leaders from other parties with plum posts and ignoring their loyalists in the process. This comes in the wake of Sarbananda Sonowal and Jyotiraditya Scindia being inducted into the Union Cabinet recently despite originally hailing from Asom Gana Parishad and Congress respectively. Addressing the media on Wednesday, Baghel claimed that there is a dearth of leaders in the saffron party.

Firing another salvo at the JP Nadda-led party, he questioned BJP on why it had chosen another Congress turncoat D Purandeshwari as the Chhattisgarh in charge. The senior Congress leader also lamented that no BJP leader in the state was deemed capable enough to be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers. Taunting Dr.Raman Singh, Baghel contended that his predecessor also deserved a Cabinet berth just like Sonowal. 

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel remarked, "There is a shortage of leaders in BJP. That's why those going from Congress are becoming Union Ministers as well as Chief Ministers. The Assam Chief Minister is a Congress turncoat. The Karnataka Chief Minister is also a Congress turncoat. The Union Ministers are from Congress.

"The state in-charge is also from Congress. Purandeshwari Ji is a former Union Minister from Congress. Despite having 9 MLAs and MPs, they cannot find a place in the Union Council of Ministers. We were hoping that Raman Singh will become a Union Minister just like Sonowal Ji who was an ex-Chief Minister. He didn't get such an opportunity," he added. 

Union Cabinet reshuffle

On July 7, 43 Ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Out of this, RK Singh, Kiren Rijiju, Anurag Thakur, Hardeep Singh Puri and Parshottam Rupala were promoted from MoS to Cabinet rank. Moreover, 12 Union Ministers including Thaawarchand Gehlot, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Harsh Vardhan and Sadananda Gowda put in their papers.

The new inductees into the Union Council of Ministers include Narayan Rane, Bhupender Yadav, Pashupati Paras, Anupriya Patel, Meenakshi Lekhi, Kapil Patil, Ajay Bhatt, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Virendra Kumar, Shobha Karandlaje, etc. As a result, the strength of PM Modi's team has increased to 77. Most importantly, the new Council of Ministers is more representative in terms of caste, religion, region and experience than several other governments in the past. For instance, there are 27 OBC Ministers in the Union Council of Ministers which is the highest representation of this community since Independence. 

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Published July 29th, 2021 at 08:25 IST

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