E-Paper
Know your ministers: Who’s who in Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot’s cabinet
The strength of the council of ministers in Rajasthan cannot exceed 30 or 15% of the total number of seats in the 200-member state assembly. The Congress is unlikely to fill all the ministerial vacancies.
The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan will have 23 ministers, including 17 new faces. The 13 cabinet ministers and ten ministers of state will be sworn in by Governor Kalyan Singh on Monday at Raj Bhawan.
Gehlot had forwarded a list of 40 contenders for ministerial berths to Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the cabinet expansion. His deputy Pilot is learnt to have reiterated his demand for 50% berths for his loyalists during the discussions for the expansion. He insisted this will ensure a “respectable power-sharing” mechanism between two rival Congress camps – his and Gehlot’s – in Rajasthan.
The strength of the council of ministers in Rajasthan cannot exceed 30 or 15% of the total number of seats in the 200-member state assembly. The Congress is unlikely to fill all the ministerial vacancies.
Here are the MLAs who are going to be a part of the state cabinet:
1. Bulaki Das Kalla (Bikaner-west): A six-time MLA, Kalla is the face of the Brahmin community in the state. He has held the portfolios of education, health, welfare, urban development and housing department and general administration in the 1998 cabinet of Ashok Gehlot. The 69-year-old was also the president of the state unit of the Congress party.
2. Parsadi Lal Meena (Lalsot): A veteran leader of the party, Meena has been elected as an MLA for the sixth time from Lalsot constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribe, in Dausa district. He has been a minister in the Gehlot cabinet twice in the past.
3. Shanti Dhariwal (Kota North): Dhariwal has a been an MLA four times and an MP once. The 75-year-old held the portfolios of home, local self-government, law, justice, art and culture, urban development and housing during Gehlot-led government between 2008 and 2013.
4. Lalchand Kataria (Jhotwara): , a former Union minister of state for defence as well as rural development, represents the Jat community in the state. He became an MLA for the first time in 2003 representing Amer and an MP in 2009.
5. Pramod Jain (Anta): A former minister, Jain won the elections for the third time this year. He is considered as a tall leader of the party from Hadauti area of the state.
6. Raghu Sharma (Kekri): Sharma has won from the Kekri constituency of Ajmer district for the second time. He also represented the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency in the 16th Lok Sabha. He will take oath as a minister for the first time.
7. Vishvendra Singh (Deeg-Kumher): A prominent Jat leader, Singh has been an MP three times and won the state elections the third time this year. He will be a minister for the first time.
8. Harish Choudhary (Baytoo): A former MP, Choudhary is the national secretary of the Congress party. He is a Jat leader from western Rajasthan and a first-time MLA. He contested two Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014.
9. Ramesh Meena (Sapotra): Meena has won the election for the third time this year from Sapotra, a seat reserved for the Scheduled Caste. He represented the Bahujan Samaj Party in 2008 and became the parliamentary secretary of the Congress.
10. Master Bhanwarlal Meghwal (Sujangarh): The former education minister in the last Congress government, Meghwal won the state election for the fifth time this year. He is considered to be a prominent SC leader.
11. Pratap Singh Khachariyawas (Civil Lines): The 49-year-old, a nephew of former BJP chief minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, won from Jaipur’s Civil Lines after a gap of five years. Congress spokesperson and Jaipur district president, Khachariyawas had questioned Gehlot’s claim to the post of the chief minister
12. Udai Lal Anjana (Nimbahera): Anjana has won from the Nimbahera constituency in Chittorgarh district for the second time this year and was elected to the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 from the district.
13. Saleh Mohammad (Pokaran): A controversial leader, Mohammad has won the assembly election from Pokaran for the second time. He will be the sole representative of the Muslim community in the cabinet.
14. Govind Singh Dotasara (Lachhmangarh): Dotasara won the assembly elections for the third time this year from Lachhmangarh in Sikar district. He is also the vice-president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee.
15. Mamta Bhupesh (Sikrai): A second-time MLA, Bhupesh is the only woman face in the cabinet. She was the parliamentary secretary in the previous Congress government.
16. Arjun Bamania (Banswara): Bamania is a third-time MLA from Banswara and holds the post of a secretary in the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee.
17. Bhanwar Singh Bhati (Kolayat): Bhati continued his winning streak this year from Kolayat after defeating veteran BJP leader Devisingh Bhati in the last assembly election.
18. Sukhram Bishnoi (Sanchore): Bishnoi has won the Sanchore seat in Jalore district for the second time this year.
19. Ashok Chandna (Hindoli): Chandna is the president of the Rajasthan Youth Congress and has been elected to the assembly for the second time from Hindoli in Bundi.
20. Tikaram Jully (Alwar Rural): Jully won from the Alwar Rural seat, reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, for the second time after a gap of five years. He joined the Congress from the BJP in 2008 and won the seat that year.
21. Bhajan Lal Jatav (Weir): Jatav won the assembly by-poll in 2014 for the first time and was elected again this year. The constituency is a part of Bharatpur district and is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.
22. Rajendra Singh Yadav (Kotputli): Yadav has won from the Kotputli seat for the second time this year. The 59-year-old was the only Congress leader to win the assembly election in 2013 despite a Modi wave in the state.
23. Subhash Garg from Bharatpur (Rashtriya Lok Dal): Th 59-year-old won the assembly election for the first time this year. The Congress managed to touch the majority mark of 100 with the help of ally RLD’s lone member. Garg is a former chairperson of Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education.
