Sharma expands cabinet, 22 MLAs take oath as ministers in Rajasthan
Former Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirodi Lal Meena were among 22 MLAs sworn in as ministers on Saturday
Former Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirodi Lal Meena were among 22 MLAs sworn in as ministers on Saturday as newly appointed Rajasthan chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma expanded his cabinet. Sixteen of the new inductees are first-time ministers, underlining the generational shift in state politics.
The oath-taking ceremony took place in the Raj Bhavan in the afternoon, where Governor Kalraj Mishra administered the oath to the ministers. The cabinet expansion took place 15 days after Sharma took oath as chief minister.
The new council of ministers has 12 ministers of cabinet rank, five ministers of state with independent charge and five ministers of state. The total strength of the council now stands at 25. With a cut off of 30, five posts are still vacant.
Kirodi Lal Meena, Madan Dilawar, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Babulal Kharadi, Jogaram Patel, Suresh Singh Rawat, Avinash Gehlot, Joraram Kumawat, Hemant Meena, Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary and Sumit Godara took oath as the cabinet ministers in the state government.
Sanjay Sharma, Gautam Kumar, Jhabar Singh Kharra, Surendra Pal Singh and Heeralal Nagar, meanwhile, took oath as the ministers of state (MoS) with independent charge. Otaram Dewasi, Manju Baghmar, Vijay Singh Choudhary, K K Vishnoi and Jawahar Singh Bedham were made ministers of state.
In the recently concluded assembly elections in the state, the BJP dethroned Congress to storm to power, securing 115 seats in the 200-member House. On December 12, the party selected first-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma as chief minister, while Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa were elected his deputies.
Keeping in mind social engineering ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year, the ruling BJP seems to have tried to strike a balance among all regions, caste, and factions. At least 12 of the new ministers belong to the other backward classes, while four are members of the Jat community, two Rajputs, three from the Scheduled Castes and one Brahmin.
The 22-member council has only two women — deputy CM Diya Kumari and minister of state Baghmar.
Springing a surprise, Surendra Pal Singh TT, the BJP candidate from Srikaranpur where election is due on January 5 next year took oath as minister of state with independent charge.The election in Srikaranpur was postponed after the death of the Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Kunnar. The Congress has given the ticket to Kunnar’s son.
