The rift between the BJP leaders and those who joined the party after defecting Congress in the Dr. Mohan Yadav Government in Madhya Pradesh came to the fore on Monday when Nagar Singh Chouhan threatened to resign from his ministerial post.

The threat from the senior tribal leader and cabinet minister for forests and scheduled caste welfare came after Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav withdrew the Forest Department from his cabinet portfolio on Sunday and handed it to newly inducted Cabinet Minister Ramniwas Rawat who joined the party after quitting the Congress.

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Nagar Singh Chouhan also threatened that his wife, Anita Singh Chouhan, who is a BJP Lok Sabha member from the Ratlam seat in MP, would also resign from the party if the BJP organizational leadership does not take their side.

“My voice was not heard. I will talk to the leaders of the organisation before taking the next step. If I feel I should not stay on the post, I would resign along with my wife Anita,” Chouhan told some media persons.

He said he is a tribal leader and the tribal community constitutes 23 per cent of the population of MP. He lamented that the Forest Department, associated directly with tribals, was taken away from him and given to a leader who came from Congress. “I don’t think this is good for me and the dedicated BJP workers,” Chouhan averred.

Ramniwas Rawat, a former Congress MLA, was sworn in as a cabinet minister on July 8. A six-time MLA from Vijaypur in the Sheopur district, quit the grand old party to join the ruling BJP on April 30 in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

An official notification issued on Sunday said Ramniwas Rawat has been allocated the Forest and Environment Department portfolio. Consequently, Nagar Singh Chouhan is left with only the Scheduled Caste Welfare Department.