Rajasthan Cabinet Reshuffle: 15 new ministers take oath; Pilot camp gets 5 berths

Jaipur, Nov 21: Fifteen ministers - 11 cabinet and four ministers of state - were sworn in on Sunday in Rajasthan, in a much-awaited expansion of the Ashok Gehlot ministry.

This is the first cabinet reshuffle of the Gehlot government which came to power in December 2018. Three ministers -- Govind Singh Dotasra, Harish Chaudhary and Raghu Sharma -- have been dropped and their resignations have been accepted by the governor on recommendation of the chief minister while three ministers -- Mamta Bhupesh, Tikaram Jully and Bhajan Lal Jatav-- will be elevated from MoS to cabinet rank.

While Dotasra, Chaudhary and Sharma resigned on Friday, other ministers resigned in a meeting of council of ministers on Saturday.

The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government will have a total of 30 ministers, including 18 who had resigned earlier.

Rajasthan can have a maximum of 30 ministers including the chief minister. Three ministers of state -- those have been elevated to cabinet rank -- are from the Scheduled Caste (SC) community, party sources said. The new state cabinet will have four SC members and three ministers from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, the sources said, adding that the cabinet will also feature three women -- a Muslim, one from the SC community and a Gujjar.

Among the new ministers who took oath as cabinet ministers are Hemaram Chaudhary, Mahendrajit Singh Malviya, Ramlal Jat, Mahesh Joshi, Vishvendra Singh, Ramesh Meena, Mamta Bhupesh Bhairwa, Bhajanlal Jatav, Tikaram Juli, Govind Ram Meghwal and Shakuntala Rawat. Those who took oath as the new ministers of state are Zahida, Brijendra Singh Ola, Rajendra Durha and Muralilal Meena.

Mahesh Joshi is the government chief whip. Among those from the Sachin Pilot camp who have been included in the ministry are Vishvendra Singh, Ramesh Meena and Hemaram Chaudhary as cabinet ministers, and Brijendra Ola and Murari Meena as ministers of state.

Two of them -- Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena -- were sacked as cabinet ministers during a political crisis in the state last year. Another SC member, former MP Govind Ram Meghwal, is a fresh face to be included in the refurbished cabinet.

Rajendra Singh Guda, one of the six MLAs who defected from the BSP to the Congress, has also been included as a minister of state. No independent MLA has been given a ministerial berth, while some of them would be included as parliamentary secretaries.

Here's the full list ministers who took oath today:

1. Hemaram Choudhary

2. Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya

3. Ramlal Jat

4. Mahesh Joshi

5. Vishvendra Singh

6. Ramesh Meena

7. Mamta Bhupesh Bhairava

8. Bhajan Lal Jatav

9. Tikaram Juli

10. Govind Ram Meghwal

11. Shakuntala Rawat

12. Zahida Khan

13. Brijendra Singh Ola

14. Rajendra Gudha

15. Murari Lal Meena