Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and Congress Rajasthan Chief Sachin Pilot on Tuesday hinted towards an expansion of newly formed Cabinet of Ashok Gehlot led Rajasthan Government. Sachin said Several Leaders will be given a chance to work for the People in near future.
The Rajasthan Cabinet can have a maximum of 30 ministers including CM and Deputy CM. So the Congress has an option accommodating 5 more lawmakers.
Sachin Pilot’s statement is crucial as resentment among many leaders in the Rajasthan is reportedly growing after being denied a Cabinet Berth in Ashok Gehlot Government. Various senior leaders including CP Joshi, Brijendra Ola, Parasram Mordiya, Rajendra Pareek, Mahesh Joshi were not inducted in the State Cabinet.
Unlike Madhya Pradesh, 18 New faces are inducted in Ashok Gehlot’s Cabinet. The names of all the Ministers have been finalized after rounds of Discussion between Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot, and Sachin Pilot.
“Every section of the State has been given representation in the Council of Ministers. It was the first expansion. Another expansion may happen in some time. Several people would be given a chance to work on various posts,” Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot told Media.
On December 24, Monday, Ashok Gehlot expanded his Cabinet for the First time. The swearing ceremony of 13 cabinet ministers and 10 state ministers held at Raj Bhawan, Jaipur on Monday. 22 Lawmakers from INC while one from RLD were given a Cabinet Berth.
Hours after the Swearing-in Ceremony, Supporters of many Congress legislator from Kaman, Zahida Khan and legislator from Guda Malani, Hema Ram Chaudhary took to the streets and raised anti-government slogans for not giving their leaders a Ministerial berth.
Both Zahida Khan and Guda Malani had served as Ministers in the past Congress governments in the State.
Sources also said that Distribution of Portfolios is pending because of deadlock between Key Portfolios between Ashok Gehlot and his Deputy, Sachin Pilot. Major disagreements are related to Home and Finance, according to sources. State Party In-Charge Avinash Pandey met both Gehlot and Pilot after swearing-in ceremony and submitted a report to Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
A State INC Functionary said,” If the Duo will not resolve the issue mutually, Rahul Gandhi will stamp the Portfolios”.
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