Rajasthan Cabinet formation likely on December 30, CM meets BJP top brass

Twenty seven days after Assembly election results were declared on Dec 3, Rajasthan is expected to have its Cabinet formation here tomorrow.

Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma rushed to Delhi today and is expected to have further consultations with top BJP leaders, regarding the finalisation of the list of ministers.

Invitation letter to the swearing-in ceremony is doing the rounds on social media, which says the function is going to be held at 3:15 pm tomorrow at Raj Bhavan.

There are reports that a marathon meeting was held on Wednesday amongst BJP state head C P Joshi, CM Bhajanlal Sharma, senior leader Rajendra Rathore and national secretary and co-incharge Vijay Rahatkar to zero down on the names of the probable ministers.

It is expected that these names have to be approved by home minister Amit Shah and other top leaders. Incidentally former Chief Minister and one of the state’s tallest leaders Vasundhara Raje was not present in that meeting.

After the Opposition questioned the prolonged delay in the formation of the Cabinet, and with state BJP leaders having no clue over the issue, the BJP high command seems to have made up its mind to form the Cabinet before the year ends. Also because as the New Year approaches, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to get busy with the consecration of the Ram Lalla Temple in Ayodhya. On Dec 30, he is set to inaugurate the remodelled railway station and airport in Ayodhya and hence the thinking was to finish the pending work of Cabinet formation in Rajasthan in December itself.

Senior leader Rathore also confirmed the same by saying the labour pains of forming the Cabinet is going to end soon. Also with the Cabinet formation in both Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh complete, there was pressure on the leaders to complete the process.

But sources say the approval of names took time as apart from balancing the caste arithmetics in Rajasthan, there are factions in the state unit, which need to be kept satisfied, at least till the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. With a Brahmin CM, one Rajput and other Dalit deputy chief ministers, the hopes of other castes like Jat, Meena, Gujjars have also risen.

Also with a first time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma becoming the Chief Minister, expectations of first time MLAs, who have been giant slayers and won with good margins, have obviously become high. Also the question of accommodating the senior leaders has been tricky, which probably led to one of the longest delays in the formation of the Cabinet in the desert state.