A Controversy has erupted against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan led BJP government’s decision to hold a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, December 5, ahead of the Elections Results on December 11 for Madhya Pradesh State Assembly.
The Proposed cabinet meeting is slated to held at 10.30 am on Wednesday at Vallabh Bhavan, the usual venue for state cabinet meetings in the state.
Terming the move as ‘unwarranted’ and ‘without Precedence’, the state Congress has lodged a complaint with the Madhya Pradesh Chief Election Officer, V Kantharao.
Shivraj Government’s move to call the cabinet meeting ahead of election results can also be seen as the party’s signal of forming the government in the state for the fourth consecutive term.
Congress spokesperson J P Dhanopia said, “ The Shivraj Government in the state is a caretaker government vis-à-vis the model code of Conduct, and caretaker government cannot take decisions of policies. Moreover, there is no precedence of such cabinet meetings.
While Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra said that, the cabinet meeting is just a party of state routine exercise and we are not going to take any policy decisions. However, he said there is no need to take permission from the Election Commission in this regard.
Chief Election Officer Kantharao had told the Congress that he has forwarded the complaint to the chief election commissioner. CEO Kantharao said he had not received any intimation from the government about a cabinet meeting, but said no policy decisions can be taken at this stage.
The Congress leader said that the Cabinet cannot hold a meeting without the nod from the EC.
The results in the state will be announced on December 11 with four other state assembly elections.