After CM Vishnudev returns from Delhi: New equation of cabinet expansion on cards

Balodabazar scandal in limelight

Raveesh Benjamin

Raipur : The more delay there is in the expansion of Vishnudev Sai cabinet in Chhattisgarh, the more speculations and discussions are increasing. Since the discussion of cabinet expansion started, Chief Minister Vishnu Dev has visited Delhi twice. Whenever the CM goes to Delhi, speculations of cabinet expansion start. As soon as the CM returned from Delhi one day, the new equation of cabinet expansion has become a topic of discussion in the political corridors.

This new equation of cabinet expansion is being linked to the Balodabazar scandal. Through this, BJP can try to woo a big vote bank in the state. According to discussions, one of the 2 ministers to be included in the state cabinet can be from the Scheduled Caste (SC) category. BJP has 4 MLAs from this category. One of them, Dayaldas Baghel, is currently a minister in the cabinet. The remaining three names include Punnulal Mohle from Mungeli, Guru Khuswant Saheb from Arang and Domanlal Korswada from Ahiwara seat. Among these, Guru Khuswant Saheb’s name is at the top. Guru Khuswant is the son of Baldas, a great religious leader of the Satnami community.

This is why Guru Khuswant’s name came into limelight

10 assembly and 1 Lok Sabha seats in the state are reserved for SC. The results of the assembly and Lok Sabha elections are saying that the vote bank of BJP is continuously slipping in the areas dominated by the SC class. Out of the 10 SC reserved seats, BJP has been able to win only 4 seats. This class has the most influence in Janjgir-Champa district, where BJP has not been able to win even a single seat. Meanwhile, the Balodabazar incident happened. Politics is also being considered as one of the reasons for this incident.
In the 15 years of BJP rule in the state, there has been only one minister from this class most of the time. In the first government of Dr. Raman Singh, Dr. Krishnamurthy Bandhi was the minister. After this, Punnu Lal Mohle remained a minister continuously. From 2015 to 2018, Dayaldas Baghel was also a part of the cabinet. In the previous Congress government, 2 ministers from this class were a part of the government. These included Dr. Shiv Kumar Dahariya and Guru Rudrakumar.

Earlier, there used to be a close competition between Congress and BJP on SC seats in the state. Both used to get almost equal number of seats. In the first election of 2003, there were 9 seats reserved for SC. Out of this, Congress and BJP won 4-4 and BSP won one seat. In 2008, BJP’s seats increased to 5, while Congress won 4 and BSP won only 1 seat. In the 2013 elections, this class got one-sided support from BJP. The party won 9 out of 10 seats. Then the religious leader of Satnami community, Baldas, was with BJP. During the assembly elections, the then Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh had provided him a helicopter for election campaign. The party won 9 seats, but by the time of 2018 elections, Baldas joined Congress. BJP lost badly in the 2018 elections. Two of the 15 seats that came to the party’s account were SC seats. It was said that due to Baldas leaving the party, BJP’s condition on SC seats has become like this. In such a situation, if Baldas returned to BJP before the 2023 elections, then the performance of 2013 was expected, but this did not happen. The party’s seats increased from 2 to only 4.