Madhya Pradesh: MLA Misreads ‘Rajya Ke Mantri’ As ‘Rajya Mantri’ During Oath Ceremony, Sworn Twice

The oath taking ceremony of BJP leader Ramniwas Rawat as a cabinet minister in Madhya Pradesh government witnessed confusion on Monday. The event which otherwise should have been a routine procedure was marked by unusual sequence of events.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expanded his ministry nearly seven months after assuming office on Monday and Rawat had to be sworn in as cabinet minister.

However, he took oath twice as he misread from his oath paper as "Rajya Mantri" (state minister) instead of "Rajya Ke Mantri", which means cabinet minister.

This led to a confusion whether Rawat was inducted into the government as cabinet minister or state minister.

Later, it was decided that Rawat should take oath again. Earlier, the oath taking ceremony was held at the Sandipani auditorium in the Raj Bhawan. However, later

Rawat’s second swearing-in ceremony was held in the Darbar Hall of the Governor House.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel again administered the oath of office and secrecy to Rawat in the Darbar Hall in the presence of CM Yadav. It was when Rawat took oath as cabinet minister.

Who is Ramniwas Rawat? Rawat is a six-time MLA from Vijaypur in Sheopur district. He joined the ruling BJP during the Lok Sabha campaign on April 30.

Rawat has still not yet resigned from the state assembly as Congress MLA.

Since joining the BJP at an election rally, Rawat had hesitated to confirm his switch over to the ruling side.

With the induction of Rawat, the strength of the CM Yadav’s cabinet rose to 32.