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Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Saturday expanded his council of ministers by inducting 22 leaders, including former Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and senior leader Kirodi Lal Meena. As many as 17 are first-time ministers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has tried to strike a caste and regional balance in the cabinet by including two Brahmin leaders, four Jats, three each of Rajput and SC/ST apart from other communities.
Rathore and Meena are among the 12 cabinet ministers inducted on Saturday, while the remaining 10 are ministers of state.
Chief Minister Sharma's elevation two weeks ago was seen as a generational shift in the state BJP and the cabinet expansion has consolidated it. The state now has 25 ministers, including the chief minister and two deputy chief ministers. Twenty of them are first-time ministers.
Governor Kalraj Mishra administered the oath of office to the new ministers.
The new cabinet is a combination of young and experienced leaders. Senior legislators and former ministers Meena, Gajendra Singh Khimsar and Madan Dilawar were inducted as cabinet ministers and Otaram Dewasi as MoS, while cabinet minister Rathore, MoS K K Vishnoi and Jawahar Singh Bedham are first-time MLAs.
The ruling BJP has also made its candidate Surendrapal Singh, contesting from the Karanpur assembly seat, as Minister of State (Independent Charge).
Voting on this seat is to be held on January 5. The Congress has criticised the BJP for his induction as minister.
In the cabinet expansion, the BJP has tried to strike a regional balance as well.
However, Jaipur has the highest representation with CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, deputy chief minister Diya Kumari and cabinet minister Rathore representing seats of Jaipur city. Deputy CM Prem Chand Bairwa represents Dudu seat. Dudu was part of Jaipur district before being made a separate district by the former Ashok Gehlot government.
In the newly inducted cabinet, Kirodi Lal Meena (72) is the oldest and Avinash Gehlot (42) is the youngest.
The MLAs inducted into the Rajasthan cabinet are Meena, Madan Dilawar, Rathore, Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Babulal Kharadi, Jogaram Patel, Suresh Singh Rawat, Avinash Gehlot, Joraram Kumawat, Hemant Meena, Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary and Sumit Godara.
Sanjay Sharma, Gautam Kumar Dak, Jhabar Singh Kharra, Surendra Pal Singh and Heeralal Nagar took oath as ministers of state (independent charge).
Otaram Dewasi, Manju Baghmar, Vijay Singh Choudhary, K K Vishnoi and Jawahar Singh Bedham were made ministers of state.
Meena, a six-time MLA, is representing the Sawai Madhopur assembly seat. He is also a two-time Lok Sabha MP and one-time Rajya Sabha MP. Meena is a veteran leader who has a clout in the tribal community.
Khimsar, a four-time MLA, represents the Lohawat constituency of Jodhpur district. He is also a former minister.
Rathore, who won from the Jhotwara assembly seat, is a former Union minister and two-time Lok Sabha MP from the Jaipur Rural seat. Rathore is an Olympic medallist and former Army officer.
Babulal Kharadi, a four-time MLA, is representing Jhadol in Udaipur.
Ramganj Mandi MLA Madan Dilawar is a six-time legislator and former minister.
Suresh Singh Rawat is a legislator from Pushkar. A three-time MLA, Rawat was a parliamentary secretary.
Two-time MLA Avinash Gehlot represents Jaitaran of Pali district, while two-time MLA Kumawat represents Sumerpur of Pali.
Hemant Meena is a first-time MLA from Pratapgarh. He is the son of former minister Nandlal Meena.
Kanhaiya Lal Chaudhary is also a three-time MLA from Malpura (Tonk). Sumit Godara is a second-time MLA representing Lunkaransar in Bikaner district.
Ministers of State Sanjay Sharma, Gautam Kumar Dak (Badi Sadri), Jhabar Singh Kharra (Srimadhopur) and Heeralal Nagar (Sangod) are two-time MLAs.
Otaram Dewasi, a three-time MLA, was the minister of state in the former BJP government led by Vasundhara Raje.
Manju Bghmar, a Dalit face, is representing the Jayal seat of Nagaur district. MoS Vijay Singh Chaudhary, a two-time MLA, is representing the Nawan (Nagaur) seat.
K K Vishnoi (Gudhamalani) and Jawahar Singh Bedham (Nagar) are first-time MLAs.
While congratulating the ministers at the swearing-in ceremony, Chief Minister Sharma wrote on X, "New vision and new mission. Our goal - self-reliant and best Rajasthan." He said, "Hearty congratulations and best wishes to all the energetic colleagues on taking oath as Cabinet Minister in the Rajasthan State Government, the brave land of bravery." Sharma also congratulated other ministers.
Voting was held on November 25 for 199 out of 200 assembly seats in the state. The results were announced on December 3. The BJP won 115 seats and the Congress 69. Bhajan Lal Sharma took oath as the chief minister on December 15.
The election for Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonnar. The BJP has fielded Surendra Pal Singh from the seat while Congress has nominated Koonart's son Rupinder Singh.
Congress has criticised the appointment of Surendra Pal Singh as a minister.
Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara said the party will bring this matter to the notice of the Election Commission and demand action.
He said, "This is probably the first case in the country when BJP has made its candidate a minister before the election."
BJP leader Rajendra Rathore defended his party's decision and said the oath taken by Singh as minister was in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.