Rajasthan: 15 ministers inducted into Ashok Gehlot cabinet

Fifteen ministers 11 cabinet and four ministers of state were sworn in on Sunday in Rajasthan in a muchawaited expansion of the Ashok Gehlot ministry Governor Kalraj Mishra administered the oath of office to the new ministersOf them five are believed to be from Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilots camp which had rebelled against Gehlots leadership in 2020 Chief Minister Gehlot told reporters after the oathtaking ceremony that representation has been given to all be it scheduled tribes scheduled castes backward classes or minoritiesHe said that portfolios will be allotted while keeping in mind preparations for the assembly elections in 2023 Pilot who along with 18 other Congress MLAs had rebelled expressed satisfaction over the new council of ministers saying it has been done with a comprehensive approach and will send a good message across the stateThe 11 cabinet ministers include three Mamta Bhupesh Bhajan Lal Jatav and Tikaram Jully who have been elevated from minister of state MoS to cabinet rank while two Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena are those who were sacked last year for rebelling and have been reinducted as cabinet ministers Hemaram Choudhary Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya Ramlal Jat Mahesh Joshi Govindram Meghwal and Shakuntla Rawat were also sworn in as cabinet ministers Zahida Brijendra Singh Ola Rajendra Gudha and Murari Lal Meena were sworn in as ministers of stateThe council of ministers in the Congress government in Rajasthan now has 19 cabinet ministers and 10 minister of state apart from the chief minister Chief Minister Gehlot and members of his council of ministers were among those present at the oath taking ceremony at the Raj Bhawan The number in the council of ministers in the state has increased to 30 now The Rajasthan Cabinet can have a maximum of 30 ministers including the chief ministerIn the cabinet expansion and reshuffle process three ministers iquest Govind Singh Dotasra Harish Chaudhary and Raghu Sharma were dropped The resignations of Sharma Chaudhary and Dotasra were accepted according to the one man one post formula of the Congress They all hold positions in the party Sharma has been appointed as the All India Congress Committee AICC incharge for Gujarat and Chaudhary as the AICC incharge for Punjab while Dotasra is the Rajasthan Congress chief Chaudhary and Sharma were cabinet ministers and Dotasra was a MoSDotasra Chaudhary and Sharma resigned on Friday from the council of ministers while other members of the previous Gehlot Cabinet resigned in a meeting on Saturday to make way for the expansion After the swearing in ceremony Gehlot also said some of the MLAs could not be given an opportunity but they will be adjusted in posts such as parliamentary secretary adviser to the chief minister and chairman of various boards and corporationsBesides Congress MLAs those independents who had supported the government at the time of the 2019 political crisis too had expectations from the cabinet reshuffle but no independent MLA has been inducted as minister Former deputy chief minister Pilot said representation of Dalits tribal and women has increased in the cabinet which is a welcome moveThe Congress leader said in this reshuffle and expansion the government structure has been prepared in a new form with regional and social balance which will benefit the party After the induction of ministers four cabinet ministers will be from the Dalit community Of them three are those who were elevated from MoS to cabinet rank and one Govindram Meghwal is a new faceAlso Read Union Cabinet to take up withdrawal of three farm laws for approval on November 24 SourcesThe expanded Cabinet has three women ministers Two are cabinet ministers Mamta Bhupesh and Shakuntala Rawat and one is an MoS Zahida Cabinet minister Mahesh Joshi is also chief whip while MoS Brijendra Ola is the son of former Union minister Sisram Ola MoS Rajendra Gudha is one of the six MLAs who defected from BSP to the Congress Among the 15 ministers who took oath on Sunday Hemaram Choudhary is the seniormost MLA He is a six time MLA Ramlal Jat is a fourtime MLA Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya Vishvendra Singh Ramesh Meena Brijendra Ola and Murari Meena are threetime MLAs while rest of the ministers who took oath are twotime MLAsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever