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Rajasthan Cabinet rejig seen as attempt to woo traditional Congress voters
The reshuffle in Rajasthan’s council of ministers appears to be in line with the Congress’s renewed focus on its traditional core vote bank of SCs and STs as well as women and youngsters
The reshuffle in Rajasthan’s council of ministers appears to be in line with the Congress’s renewed focus on its traditional core vote bank of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) as well as women and youngsters.
The nine SC and ST ministers in chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s Cabinet have also been given important portfolios. The number of women in it has been increased from one to three.
The reshuffle in Rajasthan followed the elevation of Charanjeet Singh Channi, a Dalit, as Punjab’s chief minister, and the Congress’s announcement for a quota in tickets for women in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
Gehlot inducted five ministers ST ministers Mahendrajit Singh Malviya, Ramesh Meena, Parsadi Lal Meena, Murari Lal Meena, and Arjun Bamaniya. The first three have been given Cabinet berths. Four SC lawmakers Govind Ram Meghwal, Mamta Bhupesh, Tikaram Juli, and Bhajan Lal Jatav were also made Cabinet ministers. Meghwal is a new entrant while the remaining three were promoted.
A Congress leader said this rejig was done in view of the 2023 assembly elections with a special focus on Dalits, ST, and women. ST account for 12% and SC 18% of Rajasthan’s population.
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All five new Dalit Cabinet ministers are from eastern Rajasthan, which borders Uttar Pradesh. Of the 58 assembly seats in eastern Rajasthan (Bharatpur, Dholpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa, Alwar districts), around 40 seats are with the Congress.
Two women--Shakuntla Rawat and Mamta Bhupesh-- were given Cabinet ranks while Zahida Khan was made a junior minister. The women’s representation in the Cabinet is now 10%. There are 27 women in the 200-member Rajasthan assembly. The Congress has 15 women lawmakers and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 10.
State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasara said the party has always focused on SC, ST, Other Backward Classes, minorities, women, and youths and worked to bring them into the mainstream. “The Cabinet rejig too focused on these factors. It is probably for the first time that such a high representation of women, SC and ST has been ensured.”
Opposition BJP leader Rajendra Rathore said Congress conducted a survey in which it found its SC votes in all states were slipping away. “So attempts are being made to hold them back. But the Congress will not succeed as its government has stalled beneficiary schemes benefitting the poor.”
Political analyst Manish Godha said SC and ST have traditionally been Congress’s core vote banks and the Congress has given them priority in the reshuffle two years before the polls. “The state government has sent a timely message to these communities through this rejig. Had it made this decision late, it would have appeared to be election-oriented.” Godha said Congress is making efforts to woo its traditional vote bank citing Channi’s elevation and ticket quota in Uttar Pradesh. “The Cabinet rejig seems to be a mix of increasing Dalit, women, and youth participation,” he said. He added the exercise was to send a message to voters also in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
