15 Cong MLAs made parliamentary secretaries by Chhattisgarh CM

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday administered the oath of office to fifteen Congress legislators and appointed them as parliamentary secretaries in the state government on Tuesday evening at a ceremony in his official residence.

Raipur:Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday appointed 15 Congress MLAs as parliamentary secretaries in the state government, drawing sharp criticism from the BJP.

The opposition party claimed the Congress had opposed such appointments when it was not in power in the state and had termed them "unconstitutional".

Baghel administered the oath of office and secrecy to 15 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries in the evening at a ceremony in his official residence.

The MLAs are Dwarikadhish Yadav (Khallari), Vinod Sevanlal Chandrakar (Mahasamund), Chandradev Prasad Rai (Bhilaigarh), Vikas Upadhyay (Raipur Nagar west), Chintamani Maharaj (Samri), UD Minj (Kunkuri) and Parasnath Rajwade (Bhatgaon).

The others are Indarshah Mandavi (Mohla-Manpur), Kunwarsingh Nishad (Gunderdehi), Gurudayal Singh Banjare (Navagarh), Shishupal Sori (Kanker), Rekhchand Jain (Jagdalpur), Rashmi Ashish Singh (Takhatpur), Shakuntala Sahu (Kasdol) and Ambika Singh Deo (Baikunthpur), a government statement said.

These parliamentary secretaries have been assigned departments under 12 cabinet ministers, it added.

Of them, 13 legislators, except Maharaj and Rajwade, were elected to the Assembly for the first time in 2018.

Slamming the move, BJP leader and former minister Rajesh Munat said, "It shows the double standard of the Congress as it had opposed appointment of parliamentary secretaries during the previous BJP government in the state."

"The Congress, while in opposition, had challenged such appointments in the Chhattisgarh High Court, terming the posts as unconstitutional. What happened now? CM Baghel has made these appointments to pacify dissidents in his party," Munat claimed.

In 2017, Congress leader and current state minister Mohammad Akbar and RTI activist Rakesh Choubey had filed separate petitions in HC seeking to quash appointments of 11 parliamentary secretaries by the then BJP government.

In April 2018, HC dismissed the two petitions but maintained its 2017 interim order that parliamentary secretaries will not be entitled to power and facilities at par with ministers.

Minister Akbar on Tuesday said the newly-appointed parliamentary secretaries will not be entitled to powers at par with cabinet ministers.

"Parliamentary secretaries will not function as ministers but will assist them in parliamentary affairs (related to state Assembly) of their concerned departments," he said.

He denied BJP allegations that the appointments have been made to pacify sulking Congress leaders.

PTI