MP: Ministers Silawat and Rajput get back their old portfolios

A day after they were re-inducted in the Madhya Pradesh cabinet, Tulsi Silawat and Govind Singh Rajput, both loyalists of Jyotiraditya Scindia, were on Monday re-allocated the same portfolios they had been holding before resigning last year to contest byelections, by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
While Tulsi Silawat is once again entrusted the Water Resources, and Fisheries Welfare and Development departments, Govind Singh Rajput was re-assigned the charge of Revenue and Transport departments, official sources said.
Silawat and Rajput had been inducted into the cabinet in April last year during its first expansion. However, they had to step down in October as they were not members of the state Legislative Assembly, as the coronavirus pandemic delayed holding of the bypolls.
There is a provision that a non-MLA, who got inducted in the cabinet, should get elected to the State Assembly within six months.
Silawat and Rajput had won the bypolls from Sanver and Surkhi constituencies, respectively, held in November last year.
The CM expanded the cabinet on Sunday by reinducting Silawat and Rajput.
With their induction, the current strength of the state cabinet went up to 31. The number of members in the council of ministers in MP cannot exceed 35.