Amid the Rajasthan cabinet reshuffle or expansion buzz, both Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot have held meetings with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in recent days. The two leaders are learnt to have discussed the political situation as well as the impending cabinet reshuffle in the state.
While IANS sources confirmed that the Congress leadership has agreed to Pilot's suggestion for a cabinet reshuffle in the state, no official statement has been made by the party on the date of the announcement.
Final list almost ready
Sources said that 9 new ministers will be inducted of which four ministers will be from the Gehlot camp while the remaining five will be distributed zone wise. The final list is almost ready.
Congress sources also confirmed that Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma and Revenue Minister Harish Choudhary might be relieved of their cabinet portfolios as they have been made party in-charges of Gujarat and Punjab. Long pending appointments, especially related to the state unit, will be announced following the cabinet expansion.
"These changes, the high command feels, are required not only for the upcoming assembly polls in 2023 but also for the Lok Sabha polls in 2024," party sources told IANS.
"In December 2018, the Congress won 99 seats out of 200 and Ashok Gehlot was made the CM even though he was not the CM face during the poll campaign. After five months of these elections, Lok Sabha polls were held, where Congress scored a duck out of 25 seats."
Why is a rejig expected in Rajasthan Cabinet?
After a bitter war of words that included charges of phone tapping by leaders of the Pilot camp on Gehlot, the party had grounded Pilot removing him from both the posts of Deputy Chief Minister and Rajasthan PCC chief in July last year. It was a big jolt to Pilot, who was earlier given a big credit for bringing the party to power in 2018 by hitting every nook and corner of Rajasthan after being appointed the state Congress chief in 2014.
After frequent tussles, Pilot along with 18 disgruntled MLAs raised a banner of revolt last year against CM Ashok Gehlot, sending the Congress government in Rajasthan on the verge of collapse. They were accused of the bid to topple the state government. Later, hectic consultations with the rebel leaders helped the Congress save its government and its state unit from a division.
While Gehlot has been speaking against the Pilot camp quite frequently and praising those who supported his government (including independents and BSP MLAs) during Pilot's rebellion, indicating he shall give significant positions to them, Pilot since months, has been demanding positions for Congress workers. Now, the next elections are scheduled in 2023 and the party is contemplating a new CM face so that the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha are not repeated in the 2024, said Congress sources.
Why now?
Pilot for long has been demanding that cabinet expansion should happen and appointments to boards and corporations in the state be made soon, as the state goes for Assembly polls in late 2023. He has been asserting that Congress workers and leaders working closely with him for the party should be given their dues.
The Congress, most certainly, wants to avoid a Punjab-like mess in Rajasthan. According to reports, given that Rajasthan’s electorate has been taking turns to elect BJP and then the Congress for the last two decades, the Sachin Pilot faction argues that to break the chain and re-elect the Congress, it is necessary to launch a fresh face as the CM.
(With DHNS/agency inputs)
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