The process of allotment of portfolios has got stuck because of a tug-of-war between the ministers and their mentors. Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh and MP Jyotiraditya Scindia want key portfolios for their loyalists. The chief minister is also keen to allocate important departments to his men. The departments of home, transport, urban administration, public works and commercial taxes are the most sought-after and every faction wants that these should go to its loyalists. As the matter was dragging on, Kamal Nath is understood to have sent the draft portfolio allocation list to Delhi for arbitration by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. Meanwhile, Digvijaya Singh said there is no dispute over allocation of portfolios. He said he had not talked to anyone on the issue.

Besides the delay in the allotment of portfolios, non-inclusion of some senior Congress MLAs and Independents and BSP and SP legislators supporting the government has become a major headache for the party leadership. The support of the Independents and BSP and SP MLAs is crucial for the survival of the government.

There are reports of threats being issued by the supporters of senior Congress MLA KP Singh, who was not made a minister. The supporters of the six-time MLA have said that they would not allow Scindia to enter Pichhore, the constituency of Singh. A Singh supporter Arnav Pratap Singh Chouhan has posted a message on his Facebook page saying, “Picchore Vidhan Sabha kshetra min Scindia par ban. Bhool se bhi Pichhore Vidhan Sabha se guzarne ki galti na karein Maharaj. Kakkaju Zindabad (The entry of Scindia into the Picchore Assembly constituency has been banned. Do not commit the mistake of entering the Picchore Vidhan Sabha area. Kakkaju (KP Singh) Zindabad)”

Besides supporters of Congress MLAs, the Independents and BSP and SP legislators have publicly declared that the chief minister has no choice but to include them in the ministry. There are in all four Independents, two BSP and one SP MLA, with whose help the Congress could manage to cobble up the support of 121 MLAs in the 230-member House. Among them, only one Independent has been included in the ministry. In the case of others, the policy of not including first-timer MLAs in the ministry is coming in the way of their inclusion.

Meanwhile, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is taking advantage of what he chose to describe as the “situation of administrative paralysis.” Talking to newspersons, he wondered whether the Congress government in the state was being run by Kamal Nath or a group of factional leaders.

He said that if the situation continued, it would be difficult for the Congress government to function. “If ministers are controlled by their respective political masters, how will the cabinet decide issues collectively,” he asked.

Chouhan said that the ministers should get departments immediately so that the government starts functioning. He said that development of the state should not get disrupted and the new government should start working towards the fulfilment of promises without delay.

“But the manner in which the factional leaders are fighting from the day Nath was invited to form the government, this doesn’t seem to be possible and it is a matter of concern for us,” Chouhan said. (IPA Service)