Seeking to balance caste and regional factors, the Rajasthan Cabinet was on Monday expanded with as many as 23 Ministers — 13 Cabinet and 10 Ministers of State — being sworn in, a week after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot took oath,
Eighteen legislators including Subhash Garg of RLD are first time Ministers, while the other five have held ministerial posts earlier, as efforts were made to have a mix of young faces and experienced legislators from both Gehlot and Pilot camps.
The Cabinet includes one woman, Mamta Bhupesh, and a Muslim face, Saleh Mohammad.
Portfolios of the Ministers are yet to be allotted.
Pilot said the formation of the Cabinet reflects a balance between age and experience, caste and different geographical regions.
"It is a balanced Cabinet. We have a lot of people who are being given chance for the first time and also some who got experience in earlier Congress Governments. So it is a balance between geographical regions, different communities, and between experience and age," Pilot told PTI.
"It is a forward looking, fully charged energetic Cabinet. We have added 23 Ministers to our existing strength and the Government is fully equipped to deal with the challenges and expectations people have from us,†he said.
Of the 23 newly inducted Ministers, Shanti Kumar Dhariwal, Master Bhanwar Lal Meghwal, Pramod Jain Bhaya and Parsadi Lal Meena were Ministers in former Congress Government (2008-13) while BD Kalla was the Minister in Congress Government (1998-2003).
Both these Governments were led by Ashok Gehlot, who has now become the chief minister of the State for a third time.
Apart from the member of the erstwhile royal family of Bharatpur and influential Jat leader of eastern Rajasthan Vishvendra Singh, Harish Choudhary, Lalchand Kataria and Govind Singh Dotasara are Jat leaders who have found a place in the Council of Ministers.
