In the first expansion of the 18-month-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh, after it stormed to power for the third consecutive time in 2013, three new ministers were on Friday inducted into the Raman Singh-led Cabinet, taking the strength to 13.
Governor Balramji Das Tandon administered the oath of office and secrecy to MLAs Bhaiyalal Rajwade, Dayaldas Baghel and Mahesh <g data-gr-id="21">Gagda</g> at 11am in the Raj Bhawan.
State Assembly Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal, Chief Minister Raman Singh, his council of ministers, Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand and other officials were present on the occasion.
<g data-gr-id="15">Gagda</g>, a two-time MLA from insurgency-hit Bijapur constituency, is the party’s young face from Bastar.
Baghel, an MLA from <g data-gr-id="18">Navagarh</g> reserved constituency, has been reintroduced into the Cabinet. The prominent Scheduled Caste leader was the Commerce and Industry minister in the previous Raman Singh government. Rajwade, second-time MLA from Baikunthpur, was <g data-gr-id="16">parliamentary</g> secretary in the previous government.