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Rajasthan CM Gehlot announces state cabinet reshuffle
The new 30-member Cabinet includes 12 new faces, while three ministers of state have been elevated to the Cabinet rank.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot late on Saturday announced the state cabinet reshuffle after days of hectic parleys in the state, an official release said.
The new 30-member Cabinet includes 12 new faces, while three ministers of state have been elevated to the Cabinet rank.
The development comes hours after Gehlot convened a meeting of his council of ministers at his residence and the members were asked to tender their resignations to facilitate the cabinet rejig.
After the meeting, transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariywas said, “All the ministers have tendered their resignation as directed by the party.”
The clamour for a Cabinet reshuffle had been growing for the past several months, with the Sachin Pilot camp seeking to accommodate supporters of the state’s former deputy chief minister.
On Friday, three ministers -- Govind Singh Dotasara, Raghu Sharma and Harish Choudhary -- wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, offering to quit their posts and work for the party.
The resignations of the three ministers were on expected lines as they were holding dual positions – health minister Raghu Sharma is AICC incharge of Gujarat; revenue minister Choudhary is AICC incharge of Punjab; and education minister, Dotasara, is the state party chief.
AICC general secretary incharge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken, who arrived in Jaipur on Friday, was also present at the chief minister’s residence.
Apart from the Congress MLAs, independents who support the government and MLAs who defected from the BSP to the Congress also have expectations from the reshuffle.
At present, there are 21 members in the council of ministers including the chief minister.
There can be a maximum of 30 members in the council of ministers in the state where the number of MLAs is 200.
A minister on condition of anonymity said, “There were nine vacancies, and three submitted resignations yesterday, taking the tally to 12,” he said.
Political analyst Manish Godha said asking for resignations from all the ministers means a major reshuffle of departments, promotion from state to cabinet rank, and also the possibility of being dropped from the cabinet.
“This reshuffle is different from what Gehlot has done in his previous tenure as this time he has to discuss the changes with the high command. Even today his statement in a meeting saying that only Maken and the high command know what is going to happen in the rejig – this indicates that he does not have a free hand,” the political analyst said.
