Vishnoi is an old party loyalist and, in 1983, was Madhya Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president, and Chouhan served as the wings state secretary
MP CM Chouhan and BJP leader Scindia at the Sewa-Samvad virtual rally, in Bhopal. Pic/PTI
Resentment over Thursday's expansion of the BJP government's cabinet in Madhya Pradesh continued with ruling party MLA Ajay Vishnoi shooting off a letter to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Vishnoi's letter, sent on Saturday, claimed there was resentment among the people of Jabalpur and Rewa divisions. Vishnoi (68) is a former state minister and four-time MLA, currently representing Jabalpur's Patan seat.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I can understand your difficulties but people can't," he said in the letter to the CM, apparently a reference to Congressman-turned-BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia whose loyalists managed to corner a sizable share of the berths. "I request you (Chouhan) to take charge (as guardian minister) of Rewa and Jabalpur divisions to calm down the people. For your information, (Congress leader) Digvijay Singh, while he was MP chief minister, acted as in charge (guardian) minister of Jabalpur. Hope you will accept my request," he said in the letter. Vishnoi is an old party loyalist and, in 1983, was Madhya Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president, and Chouhan served as the wing's state secretary.
On Thursday, a supporter of Indore BJP MLA Ramesh Mendola tried to immolate himself after the cabinet expansion. Mendola, a loyalist of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, was not given a ministerial berth in the expansion. While replying to a query about the tussle over the portfolios which is delaying the allocation, Vishnoi told reporters in Jabalpur on Sunday, "The party's image is getting sullied." "Three to four days delay in allotment of portfolios had never happened in the past, nor our chief minister had to rush to Delhi," he added, while referring to Chouhan's visit to Delhi reportedly to discuss the portfolio allocation with the party's central leadership.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.
Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever