Raipur: The Chhattisgarh cabinet will be expanded today with the induction of nine ministers, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has said.
It will take the strength of the Sai-led cabinet to 12.
Nine MLAs will be sworn in as ministers at the Raj Bhavan at 11:45 am, Sai told reporters on Thursday.
Brijmohan Agrawal, Ramvichar Netam, Dayaldas Baghel, Kedar Kashyap, Lakhanlal Dewangan, Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, OP Choudhary, Tank Ram Verma and Laxmi Rajwade will take oath as ministers, he added.
“Very soon portfolios will be allotted. One more cabinet berth will be filled later,” CM Sai told reporters.
Chhattisgarh can have a maximum of 13 ministers, including the CM.
Currently, the cabinet has three members – chief minister Sai and deputy CMs Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma. They were sworn in on December 13.
After the expansion of the cabinet, it will have six members belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC), namely Arun Sao, Lakhanlal Dewangan, Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, OP Choudhary, Tank Ram Verma and Laxmi Rajwade.