The long-pending cabinet formation in Rajasthan is expected on Saturday afternoon. Although there has been no official confirmation from the government or the party yet, people involved in the preparations for the swearing-in at Governor House have been asked to complete the preparations by 3 pm on Saturday. It is believed that 22 to 25 MLAs can take the oath as ministers.
Bhajan Lal Sharma took the oath as the chief minister on 15 December with two deputy chief ministers, Diya Kumari, and Premchand Bairwa. Since then, the cabinet expansion has been awaited. Sharma has visited Delhi twice regarding cabinet expansion, and on Friday, he also moved to Delhi to meet the party's high command. As per the office source, he will return to Jaipur on Saturday morning and meet Governor Kalraj Mishra for the swearing-in ceremony.
Most seats of the council of ministers to be filled
Sources said that, on the lines of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, most of the seats of the council of ministers will be filled. Thirty ministers, including the chief minister, can be made in Rajasthan. Three posts of chief minister and two deputy chief ministers have already been filled, so 20-22 ministers may take the oath.
The strongest contender among the faces of the cabinet in the new government is Dr Kirori Lal Meena, Anita Bhadel, Otaram Dewasi, Gurveer Singh, Jagat Singh, Jawahar Singh Bedam, Baba Balaknath, Jaswant Singh, Jogaram Patel, Avinash Gehlot, Chhotu Singh, Kishan Kumar Bishnoi, Kesaram Chaudhary, Gajendra Singh Khinvsar Jhabar Singh Kharra, Pratap Bhil, Phool Singh Meena, Babu Singh Rathore, Bhag Chand Tekda, Madan Dilawar, Shankar Decha, Harlal Saharan, and Vishwanath Meghwal.