Congress leader and former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.
Credit: PTI Photo
Jaipur: A delay in naming the Cabinet in Rajasthan has led to a political brouhaha, with former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot finding fault with the interlude, claiming that people are now tired of waiting and do not know whom to approach with their problems.
Almost 23 days after the election results, in which BJP came back with a majority of 115 seats as against 69 for the Congress, there is no sign of the Cabinet in place. The new Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and his two deputies Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa were appointed on Dec 12. The two deputy chief ministers have also not been assigned any departments. The 45 departments of the Rajasthan government are still under the Chief Minister
Political analysts say the delay is apparently because of the dilemma over the placement and positioning of senior members of the party and the allocation of ministerial departments.
“The balancing of the Cabinet as regards to caste equations is a major concern, although BJP is adept in dealing with it. How to accommodate the senior leaders is a bigger headache for the BJP, with the Lok Sabha elections nearing,” says Narayan Bareth, senior political analyst.
Although one of the most senior and influential tribal leaders, Kirori Lal Meena, has been named as one amongst the three panelists to help pro-term Speaker Kali Charan Saraf, this designation is not enough to satisfy him and his community, which forms about 8 per cent of the population in Rajasthan.
Kirori Lal was a Rajya Sabha member when he was asked to fight the Assembly elections, to which he agreed readily. He definitely needs to be given a more dignified position, commensurate with his stature in the state, say analysts.
HIs influence, which is spread over Jaipur, Alwar, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, and Karauli, where the Meena population is concentrated, is also likely to affect the Lok Sabha seats in these regions.
Another senior leader, Rajendra Rathore, who lost his Taranagar Assembly seat but has strong Delhi connections, is likely to find a place in the Cabinet or organisation. Rathore, who has been making trips to Delhi and meeting national leaders like Rajnath Singh, is likely to be given a notable position. Speculations are rife about whether he would be fielded again from Churu, his native constituency, as present MLA Harlal Saharan may be offered a Lok Sabha seat.
There is still ambiguity over the position or role of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje would be offered, as it doesn’t seem probable that she would have much to do in state politics.
Political observers are conjecturing that all the Cabinet berths, numbering about 29, are not going to be filled up right now. At least 15 ministers may be sworn in at the moment keeping the caste balance right, and the rest of the strong contenders would be given hope that they would be accommodated later if they produce results and work hard for the Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhajanlal, other than visiting different temples and meeting religious community leaders like Radhasoami Satsang, has assured that welfare schemes started by the previous government would not be discontinued but instead taken forward.
However, Gehlot’s flagship Rs 25 lakh health insurance scheme—Chiranjeevi Health Insurance—is nearing its end while the Centre’s Ayushman Scheme, which is essentially for those people who come under the National Food Security Scheme, is being publicised. The Rajiv Gandhi Yuva Mitra Internship Scheme, which provided internship to at least 5000 youths for a year with a pay of Rs 17500 per month, has also been stopped by the BJP government.
Gehlot has come down heavily on the stopping of this particular scheme, saying if the BJP government had objections to the name, it could have changed the scheme’s name, naming it after Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Giving an example, he said that the Congress government had regularised the Panchayat sahayaks who were appointed during the BJP tenure and even increased their salary. Gehlot has been tweeting and raising questions about the welfare schemes his government had brought in.
Even PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra today criticised the government, saying it is almost nearing a month but none of the departments have been functioning and people have no idea whether the previous schemes would be continued or not, especially the OPS scheme and the youth internship scheme, which has been stopped, bringing 5000 youths employed under the scheme onto the streets.