New Delhi: In the meeting held on Saturday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, all the ministers of the Rajasthan cabinet have resigned.
The State Congress Committee (PCC) meeting is to be held on Sunday.
“All the ministers have resigned. When it comes to re-formation, the process is now complete. It is a process. There is a PCC meeting tomorrow at 2 pm, everyone will go there. Further instructions will be issued to us there”: Pratap Khachariawas, who served as transport minister in the Gehlot cabinet, said, as reported by news agency ANI.
Govind Singh Dotasara, Harish Chaudhary and Raghu Sharma had on Friday offered their resignations in writing to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
After a meeting with the Council of Ministers, which was to take place at 5 pm but was later postponed in the evening, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot reached the Governor’s House in Jaipur to meet Governor Kalraj Mishra.
Official sources said that the oath-taking ceremony of the new cabinet is likely to take place on Sunday at the Raj Bhavan. According to the information, the swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held at 4 pm.
Meanwhile, ANI shared a list of Congress leaders to be included in the new Rajasthan cabinet.
As per the list, Hemaram Choudhary, Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, Ramlal Jat, Mahesh Joshi, Vishvendra Singh, Ramesh Meena, Mamta Bhupesh Bairwa, Bhajanlal Jatav, Tikaram Juli, Govind Ram Meghwal, and Shakuntala Rawat will be sworn-in as cabinet ministers.
Zahida Khan, Brijendra Singh Ola and Rajendra Guda will be made ministers of state.
Earlier in the day, PCC chief Dotasara along with CM Ashok Gehlot and AICC general secretary for Rajasthan Ajay Maken addressed a ‘Kisan Vijay Diwas’ gathering.
After that the Chief Minister and in-charge of Rajasthan affairs held a meeting in a hotel.
Ajay Maken had reached Jaipur last night and informed reporters about the resignations of the three ministers who, in their letter to Sonia Gandhi, expressed their willingness to work for the party.
While Govind Dotasara is the PCC chief, Harish Choudhary and Raghu Sharma are in charge of party affairs in Punjab and Gujarat respectively.
After his resignation, the strength of the cabinet was reduced from 21 to 18. Rajasthan can have a maximum of 30 ministers including the Chief Minister.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had recently indicated that there would be a reshuffle soon.
For several months, there was an uproar with the camp of Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot for a reshuffle that his loyalists should be included in the state cabinet.
In September, Sachin Pilot had met Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to discuss their future as well as the residence of some of his loyalists in the state cabinet.
Last year, the Congress managed to save its state government in Rajasthan after Sachin Pilot revolted against CM Ashok Gehlot over long-standing differences.
In the political crisis, Sachin was removed from the post of Deputy Chief Minister and in his place Govind Singh Dotasra was made the Pradesh Congress President.
(with agency input)
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