Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday expanded his Cabinet as nine MLAs took oath as ministers. The newly sworn in cabinet ministers took oath in the presence of Governor Anandiben Patel. Portfolios of the ministers will be decided after the oath-taking ceremony. The ceremony took place at 11 am. Earlier on December 17, when Baghel was sworn in as chief minister, TS Singh Deo and Tamradhwaj Sahu had taken oath as ministers.

In the recently-held Chhattisgarh assembly elections, Congress secured a massive victory by bagging a whopping 68 of the 90 assembly seats. The BJP, which was in power in the state since 2003, suffered a major routing only securing 15 seats. Former chief minister Ajit Jogi-led Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) managed to win five seats. Jogi’s ally Bahujan Samaj Party managed to win two seats.

On Saturday, in Delhi, Baghel met Congress president Rahul Gandhi and finalised names of ministers, a party leader said on Sunday.

"The party has tried to give representation to leaders from all the communities in the Cabinet. Almost all the senior leaders have been covered. Besides 11 Lok Sabha constituencies are also kept in mind in view of 2019 elections while finalising the Cabinet", he said.

Former Union minister Charandas Mahant, who was one of the runner ups for the chief minister post, four-time MLA Mohammad Akbar, former minister and OBC heavyweight Dhanendra Sahu, senior leader and former Leader of Opposition Ravindra Choubey, former minister Satyanaryan Sharma, Amitesh Shukla, Arun Vora (son of AICC General Secretary Motilal Vora) and woman leader and two time MLA Anila Bhedia were key contenders for the Cabinet berths.