Rajasthan cabinet reshuffle: BJP hits out at Congress over absence of women in new team

Jaipur, Nov 21: The Rajasthan Cabinet will see the induction of two new women members on Sunday. Shakuntala Rawat and Zahida are set to take oath as new ministers while Mamta Bhupesh will be taking oath as cabinet minister after elevation to cabinet rank from minister of state, taking the total number of women in the Ashok Gehlot cabinet to three.

Fifteen out of the total 108 Congress MLAs in the House of 200 are women.

"There was indeed a need to increase the participation of women in the cabinet. I am happy that two new faces will be inducted," Bhupesh told reporters.

"Congress party promotes women. Former PM Rajiv Gandhi had taken the initiative to empower women and women leadership," she said.

Zahida said that it was a good sign that participation of women has increased. "I am happy that women are being prompted and given opportunities. I will try my best to fulfil the responsibility given to me," she said.

Fifteen new Rajasthan ministers will take oath at 4 pm on Sunday at the Raj Bhavan here as part of the Cabinet reshuffle, officials said.

The ministers include 11 Cabinet ministers and four ministers of state (MoS).

The new Rajasthan cabinet will see 12 new faces, including five from the Sachin Pilot camp, in the reshuffle.

BJP's Amit Malviya tweeted on Sunday, "In Rajasthan, where Congress is in power, only 3 out of 15 women were made ministers, which means only 20 per cent. But in UP, where Congress is the number four party, it is making false promises of giving 40 per cent representation to women. This is the truth of the double politics of Congress and Gandhi family."

This is the first cabinet reshuffle of the Gehlot government which came to power in December 2018.