RAIPUR: Tribal leader Mohan Markam, who was replaced as Chhattisgarh Congress committee president a few days ago, was sworn in as a minister in the Bhupesh Baghel cabinet on Friday.
Governor Bishwabhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Markam in the swearing-in ceremony held at Raj Bhawan. Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, Vidhan Sabha speaker Dr. Charandas Mahant and a couple of ministers were among those present.
The tribal leader solemnly took the oath in Hindi, pledging his commitment to the position. Following the oath-taking, Governor Harichandan and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel extended their wishes to Markam.
Markam, who held the post of state Congress chief for almost four years, was replaced as PCC chief two days ago with another tribal leader, Deepak Baij, who is a member of Parliament representing Bastar (ST) seat.
The school education minister, Premsai Singh Tekam, was asked to resign from the ministry, paving the way for a cabinet reshuffle in the nearly four-and-a-half-year-old Bhupesh Baghel government. Now, Tekam has been appointed as chairman of the state planning commission with a cabinet rank.
Tribal leader Markam, 56, represents the Kondagaon (ST) constituency, and served as the state Congress committee president from June 2019 to July 2023. As PCC chief, Markam's recent decision to reshuffle his general secretaries and assign them new tasks did not go well with those in the government. AICC general secretary Kumari Selja immediately revoked his order allocating new assignments to general secretaries.
Markam had defeated the prominent tribal woman leader Lata Usendi in Kondagaon in the 2013 assembly elections, and he won for the second time in the 2018 polls, the year Congress came to power.
The tribal leader from Bastar had joined Congress in 1990 in the presence of the late Congress leader Mahendra Karma and contested elections for the first time in 2008 but faced defeat.
