In Chhattisgarh, the opposition party Congress has filed a petition in the Chhattisgarh High Court on Friday (September 5). This petition states that the current number of the state cabinet is higher than the constitutional limit.

The party claims that according to the Constitution, the number of ministers (including the Chief Minister) in the state with the 90 -member assembly cannot exceed 13, while it is currently 14. The hearing on this petition is likely to be held next week.

What is constitutional provision?

Under Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution, no state cannot have more than 15% ministers of the total number of assembly members in any state. This Article was added by the 91st Constitution Amendment Act, 2003. The size of the Council of Ministers in a state cannot exceed 15% of the total number of members of that state assembly, but even if the assembly is small, the number of ministers will not be less than 12. According to PTI, the Congress says that the government has included 14 ministers without any constitutional permission.

BJP government’s side

Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai recently included three BJP MLAs in the cabinet, causing the number of ministers to 14. On raising questions on this, Deputy Chief Minister Arun Saw said that the government has adopted the example of Haryana. Haryana also has a 90 -member assembly and a 14 -member cabinet, and it is in line with constitutional provisions.

Opposition’s attitude and forward path

Leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant had already written a letter to Governor Ramen Deka demanding that a minister be removed, as it is a violation of the limit. Now the Congress has formally approached the court. If the court agrees with the arguments of the Congress, then the state government may have to exclude a member from the cabinet, which will have a big impact on political equations.