Picture : Twitter / ANI
After days of consultations within the party, Fifteen ministers — 11 cabinet and four ministers of state — were sworn in Rajasthan, in a much-awaited expansion of the Ashok Gehlot ministry. Governor Kalraj Mishra administered the oath of office to the new ministers.
Of the fifteen ministers who took the oath included 12 new faces, fulfilling a key demand of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot
The 11 cabinet-rank and four ministers of state sworn in by Governor Kalraj Mishra included five considered to be in the Pilot camp. Among them were Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena, back now as cabinet-rank ministers after being sacked during the revolt.
The list included three MoS, all Dalits, from the old team who were elevated to the cabinet rank. Ramesh Meena, Mamta Bhupesh Bairwa, Bhajan Lal Jatav, and Teekaram Juli took oath as Cabinet ministers
Ramesh Meena, Mamta Bhupesh Bairwa, Bhajan Lal Jatav, and Teekaram Juli take oath as Cabinet ministers in the Rajasthan Govt, at a function in Jaipur pic.twitter.com/vvMsVEOtDG
— ANI (@ANI) November 21, 2021
All 20 members of the earlier ministry had submitted their resignations just ahead of the long-awaited reshuffle. But only three, including state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, have been dropped with the party deciding to follow the one man, one post formula.
The expansion, two years ahead of the next assembly polls, also gives Dalits and women a stronger presence in the Ashok Gehlot government.
Pilot, who was removed from the posts of deputy CM and state Congress president when he and 18 other MLAs rebelled against Gehlot, expressed satisfaction with the reshuffle.
“There is only one faction — the faction of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and we all are the members. It will be our endeavour to move forward collectively and win the next assembly elections,” he said.
