32 ministers take oath in Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur today formed a 32-member council of ministers, three days after being sworn in. He has dropped four members of the previous Uma Bharti ministry and has inducted three new faces.

"Two more will be included soon to make it a 35-member ministry," Gaur said after Governor Balram Jakhar administered the oath to new ministers.

Of the 32 ministers, 16 are of the Cabinet rank, three ministers of state with independent charges and the rest ministers of the state. He said departments would be allocated within a day or two.

But according to sources, ministers of the previous government are likely to retain their portfolios. Bharti reportedly vetoed the names of a few ; prominent among these being that of Himmat Kothari.

Gaur denied berth to Alka Jain, Dhul Singh Choudhary, Anchal Sonkar and Devi Singh Patel and accommodated Umashankar Gupta, Antar Singh Arya and Rampal Singh-- all ministers of state.