Chhattisgarh Cabinet expanded; Chief Minister inducts nine ministers

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday conducted the first expansion of his Cabinet by inducting nine Congress MLAs, including a woman legislator, as ministers.nnWith this, the strength of the Baghel-led Cabinet has gone up to 12.nnGovernor Anandiben Patel administered the oath to the new ministers during a function held at the Police Parade Ground here.nnTwo other Congress legislators T S Singh Deo and Tamradhwaj Sahu had taken oath as ministers on December 17, after Baghel was sworn in as chief minister.nnThose sworn in on Tuesday included four-time MLA Mohammad Akbar, the lone Muslim face inducted into the Cabinet, former Leader of Opposition Ravindra Choubey, Jaisingh Agrawal and two-time MLA Umesh Patel.nnWoman MLA Anila Bhedia, and Kawasi Lakhma and Premsai Singh Tekam were the tribal leaders inducted into the Cabinet.nnState Congress’s working president Shiv Kumar Daharia and Rudra Guru, belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, were also sworn in as ministers.nnAll the ministers took oath in Hindi.nnThe portfolios were yet to be announced.nnSenior Congress leader P L Punia, Chief Minister Baghel and other leaders were present on the occasion.nnThe Chhattisgarh Cabinet can have a maximum of 13 ministers, including the chief minister.nnThe Congress returned to power in the state after 15 years, dislodging the Raman Singh-led BJP government.nnThe Congress bagged 68 of the total 90 seats in the Assembly, while the BJP won only 15 seats.nnSource: Press Trust of India