Rajasthan: 5 Sachin Pilot loyalists to take oath as ministers
The Rajasthan Cabinet is set to see over a dozen new faces in a reshuffle set for Sunday. As many as five loyalists of Congress leader Sachin Pilot will notably be included in Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's Cabinet. The Cabinet will now also be more diverse, including more women and members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
Why does it matter?
The number of vacancies in Gehlot's Cabinet went up from nine to 12 after the recent resignations of Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasra, Health Minister Raghu Sharma, and Revenue Minister Harish Chaudhary. The Gehlot-led Congress government is apparently trying to settle a feud between the CM and former Deputy CM Pilot. Pilot had been sacked as Deputy CM last July.
Gehlot government to have 30 ministers
The ruling Congress has 102 MLAs in the 200-seat Rajasthan Assembly. The party has released a list of 15 ministers who will be sworn in at 4 pm on Sunday. These include 11 state ministers and four ministers of state (MoS). Three junior ministers will notably be elevated to Cabinet rank. The Gehlot government will have a total of 30 ministers.
Who are the new faces?
After Sunday's reshuffle, Hemaram Chaudhary, Mahendrajit Singh Malviya, Ramlal Jat, Mahesh Joshi, Vishvendra Singh, Ramesh Meena, Mamta Bhupesh Bhairwa, Bhajanlal Jatav, Tikaram Juli, Govind Ram Meghwal, and Shakuntala Rawat will be included in the Cabinet. Zahida Khan, Brijendra Singh Ola, Rajendra Dudha, and Muralilal Meena will take oath as MoS. Choudhary, Singh, Murarilal, Ramesh, and Ola are said to be Pilot's loyalists.
A more diverse Cabinet
Notably, the reshuffled Cabinet will have four SC members. The three MoS being elevated to Cabinet rank are also from the SC community: Jatav, Bhairwa, and Juli. Another member of the SC community—Meghwal—will be a new face in the Cabinet. Further, three ministers belong to the ST community. The Cabinet will also include three women, a Muslim, and one member of the Gujjar community.
