Opposition Congress forms 'shadow cabinet' in Madhya Pradesh to check BJP government

The Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Satyadev Katare said in Bhopal on Thursday, that a "shadow cabinet" comprising Congress MLAs has been formed to keep a tab on different ministries of the state government.

"Constituting a shadow cabinet is the first experience of its kind in the country, since earlier attempts made by the opposition in Goa, Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab in this regard proved futile," Katare said.

The Congress has allocated portfolios among its senior and junior MLAs, both to keep a tab on the functioning of various ministries and in the process, also solve people's problems, he said.

While junior MLAs were confined to specific ministries, senior ones like Ajay Singh, Bala Bachchan, Mahendra Singh Kalukheda, Arif Aqeel, KP Singh, Govind Singh, Ramniwas Rawat, Mukesh Nayak and Sunderlal Tiwari have not been assigned any ministry so that they could interfere in any department and also guide inexperienced legislators in dealing with any specific issue.

The shadow cabinet would help keep control over ministers and the bureaucracy, as well as make them more accountable, he said.