Rajasthan Cabinet Expansion: With a unique balance between old and new faces, 22 BJP ministers take oath

A total of 22 ministers were inducted in the Rajasthan government at a swearing-in ceremony on December 29, with BJP putting special emphasis on tuning a fine balance in caste equation and maintaining due weightage to both old and new faces in the cabinet.

After the oath-taking ceremony, Rajasthan BJP Chief CP Joshi said that the newly formed cabinet in the State reflects people of all age groups and classes from across the state.

A total of 11 ministers have been appointed from the OBC category in the Bhajanlal Sharma-led Rajasthan government which gives a hint about the strategies of the BJP ahead of the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

Three ministers from Scheduled Tribe (ST) category including former MP Kirodi Lal Meena have been appointed whereas two ministers have been inducted from Scheduled Castes (SC) category.

Surendra Pal Singh, who is also a BJP candidate for the upcoming adjourned poll in Karanpur Assembly, was also sworn in as Minister of State (MoS) with independent charge.

Speaking on his appointment, Surendra Pal Singh said, “Party by appointing me as minister has honoured the Sikh society. Party takes forward every section of the and Sikhs are also included in this. Voters of Karanpur are very understanding, I will win the elections for sure.”

Both Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari come from the General category. Prem Chand Bairwa comes from the Scheduled Caste category.

12 cabinet-rank ministers, five ministers took oath as Ministers of State (MoS) with independent charge and 5 MLAs took oath as ministers of state.

In the process, two former MPs were also sworn is as ministers–Rajyavardhan Rathore and Kirodi Lal Meena.

Rajyavardhan Rathore, Kirodi Lal Meena, Madan Dilawar, Gajendra Singh Khinvasar, Babulal kharadi, Jogaram Patel,Suresh Rawat, Avinash Gehlot, Joraram Kumawat,Hemant Meena, Kanhaiya Lal Chaudhary, Sumit Godara were sworn is as Cabinet minister.

Sanjay Sharma, Surendra Pal Singh TT, Jhabar Singh Kharra, Gautam Kumar, Heeralal Nagar were also sworn in as Ministers with Independent charge.

Otaram Dewasi, Manju Baghmar, Vijay Singh Choudhary, KK Bishnoi, Jawahar Singh Bedam took oath as ministers of state.

On the cabinet expansion, Rajasthan BJP leader Rajendra Rathore said, “The cabinet will represent all sections and will be able to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Rajasthan.”

Earlier today, the swearing-in ceremony of the Rajasthan state cabinet took place on December 29 at the Raj Bhavan in Jaipur where 22 ministers were inducted into the government. 12 cabinet-rank ministers, five ministers took oath as Ministers of State (MoS) with independent charge and 5 MLAs took oath as ministers of state.

Meanwhile, Congress has questioned the appointment of Surendra Pal Singh condemned the decision of BJP and said that the ruling party in Rajasthan is outrightly “flouting the rules and procedure laid by Election Commission of India”.

Speaking to ANI, Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra said, “Finally the list came from Delhi. I congratulate all the newly sworn-in ministers. Today we saw how the BJP defied and flouted the Constitution and Election Commission. The arrogance of the BJP has touched the skies. BJP is trying to win over the public in Karanpur by making Surendra Pal Singh TT as minister. It is a clear case of violation of Model Code of Conduct.”

Dotasra said that BJP does not believe in Constitution but this strategy will not prove successful in the upcoming poll.

“People in the whole country have raised suspicions about whether elections in the future will happen or not.

They have put Constitution in one corner, whatever tricks they try but people in Karanpur will vote for Congress, People will pay tributes to late Gurmeet Singh Koonar and will vote for Congress looking at his past record,” Dotasra said.

He also said that Congress will definitely move to the Election Commission in this regard.”Such an example has never been seen in our country. We will go to the Election Commission and if required we will further decide on taking legal action,” he said.

Newly inducted minister in the Rajasthan government Kirodi Lal Meena on December 29 said that solving issues of the people in the state will be the priority and the new state BJP government led by Bhajanlal Sharma will have zero tolerance for corruption.

“I have taken oath as minister, will work for the people of Rajasthan. We will stay among people and will listen to their issues. We will have zero tolerance for corruption and ensure that no paper leaks happen,” Kirodi Lal Meena told reporters after taking oath as minister.

The newly inducted minister in the Rajasthan government, Suresh Singh Rawat on December 29 said that his priority will be to address and resolve the problems of people in the state.

Suresh Singh Rawat said, “The priority is to resolve the problem and do the work given by the Chief Minister with complete honesty and devotion.”

Congress has named Rupinder Singh Kunnar as its candidate for the ‘adjourned poll’ to 3-Karanpur Assembly constituency in Rajasthan. The polls in the Karanpur Assembly will be held on January 5.

Rajasthan polls were conducted on 199 seats out of 200 assembly seats on November 25, as elections in the Karanpur constituency were adjourned due to the passing of the Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.In the recent polls which were conducted in Rajasthan, BJP registered victory on 115 seats while Congress came a distant second with 69 seats. The majority mark in the state is 100.

(With inputs from ANI)