22 BJP ministers take office in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: Twenty-two ministers, including two women, of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oaths of office, in front of governor Balram Jakharin the Madhya Pradesh capital yesterday.

Chouhan has four new faces in a new administration that has 14 cabinet ministers and eight junior ministers.

The cabinet ministers include Babulal Gaur, Kailash Vijaywargiya, Ragavji, Nagendra Singh, Anup Misra, Gopal Bhargava, Jayant Malaviya, Gauri Shankar Bisen, Laxmikant Sharma, Ramkrishna Kusumaria, Tukoji Rao Puar, Jagdish Deora, Jagannath Singh and Archana Chitnis.

The ministers of state are Narain Kushwaha, Rajendra Shukla, Devi Singh Sayyam, Paras Jain, Karan Singh Verma, K.L. Agarwal, Harishankar Khatik and Ranjana Baghel.

The BJP bagged 143 of the 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls conducted on November 27. The election results were announced December 8.

"The cabinet is balanced. It has been formed keeping in mind the regional balance and caste equations. Efforts have been made to give representation to all the regions and castes in the state," Chouhan told reporters.

Vijayvargiya is a fifth time winner from one of the constituencies in state commercial capital Indore.