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Updated: Apr 22, 2020 15:46 IST

Narottam Mishra was handed the charge of Madhya Pradesh’s health department on Wednesday as the central state is witnessing a surge in the number of cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The number of Covid-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh has risen to 1552 and there have been 76 deaths related to the coronavirus disease, which has spread to 26 of the state’s 52 districts.

Also read: Congress targets BJP govt over variation in Covid-19 numbers in Madhya Pradesh

Indore has emerged as one of the major Covid-19 hotspots in the country and prompted the Centre to send a team on Monday to the city to assess and manage the situation.

This is the third time the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader will be handling the charge of the health department. Mishra, who has been the health minister twice from 2003 to 2018, will also be the state’s home minister.

“The portfolios are being distributed in view of our government’s focus on controlling corona in the state at the moment. The cabinet will be expanded after lockdown period and then the distribution of portfolios among all the ministers will be done after consideration in totality,” chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

“Narottam Mishra will coordinate among all the departments concerned, government and private agencies, industrialists, traders and individuals and review the situation regarding Corona. He will also get feedback from the district crisis management committees,” he added.

Also read: 12-day-old baby girl tests positive in Bhopal, hospitalised

Kamal Patel has been made the central state’s agriculture and family welfare minister, Tulsi Silawat has been given the water resources department, Govind Singh Rajput will be the cooperative and food and civil supply minister and Meena Singh will be in charge of the tribal welfare department.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan also held a meeting with his cabinet ministers after the allocation of portfolios.

The allocation of portfolios came a day after the five were sworn in by Governor Lalji Tandon amid the Covid-19 lockdown on Tuesday morning. Later in the day, Shivraj Singh Chouhan assigned the ministers different divisions to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the measures taken to check the spread of Covid-19.

Silavat was health minister in the previous Congress government headed by Kamal Nath and Govind Singh Rajput had revenue and transport departments with him. Both are loyalists of BJP leader and former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

They joined the BJP last month after rebelling against Kamal Nath, along with four other ministers and 16 MLAs.

The Congress party pointed out to the “treatment meted” out to the rebels.

“Those who betrayed the Congress to topple its government and joined the BJP cabinet must be shocked with the treatment meted out to them in BJP government as they have been given insignificant departments,” Narendra Saluja, state Congress president’s media coordinator, said.

“One of them wanted to become deputy CM in Kamal Nath government but he has been given water resources. When chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with just five ministers in his cabinet was free to give them important departments what he will give to them after cabinet expansion and more ministers can be anybody’s guess,” he said.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was sworn in as the chief minister on March 23, chose to expand his cabinet after nearly a month of taking charge of the central state.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader had been criticised by the opposition and on social media for running his government without a cabinet, particularly without a health minister, as the Covid-19 situation continued to worsen in the state.

When Chouhan assumed office the coronavirus pandemic was rearing its head in the state with only seven Covid-19 cases registered in two districts. But in the span of about 29 days, the state has registered as many as 1485 Covid-19 cases with 76 of them dead and as many as 26 of its 52 districts affected.