Appointment of 33 cabinet ministers by Madhya Pradesh CM unlawful: Congress' Chaudhary Rakesh Singh

Congress leader Chaudhary Rakesh Singh said that the appointment of 33 cabinet ministers by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is "unlawful".

"The appointment of 33 cabinet ministers by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister is unlawful as there are only 206 members in the Legislative Assembly. This violates the Constitution. Therefore, I have written to the Governor and President of India to take action," Rakesh Singh said.

Earlier, Congress leader Kamal Nath took a dig at the chief minister, saying that it is for the first time in "history of democracy" that "14 out of 33 ministers are not MLAs" and that the cabinet has been formed "keeping by-elections to assembly seats in mind."

Kamal Nath, who is the state Congress chief and a former Chief Minister, said people will teach BJP a lesson in the bypolls.

"These fourteen ministers have to fight elections. They are not even MLAs. The cabinet has been formed keeping by-elections to assembly seats in mind. Common people of the state will teach them a good lesson. For the first time in the history of democracy, 14 out of 33 ministers are not MLAs," Kamal Nath told .

He said the party will go to court if required.

Twelve former MLAs took oath on Thursday in an expansion that saw the induction of 28 ministers.

Twenty-four seats are vacant in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly. The BJP at present has 107 MLAs while rival Congress has 92.

( With inputs from ANI )