cabinet: Parsadi Lal Meena gets health, Shakuntala Rawat industries as Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot retains key home, finance portfolios | Jaipur News

JAIPUR: Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot retained all portfolios except one — excise — that he had been holding so far when ministries were reallocated after the cabinet expansion and reshuffle on Monday.
Nine other ministers have also retained their portfolios.

Gehlot continues to hold 10 departments, including home, finance, taxation and state investigation bureau, while passing excise to cabinet minister Parsadi Lal Meena, who has also been given medical and health portfolios.
Gehlot confidante Mahesh Joshi given PHED, groundwater depts
Not just Meena, but all ministers from SC/ST communities have been given important departments.
The industries ministry, earlier held by Meena, has been given to the new entrant Shakuntala Rawat. She is probably the first woman to be the state’s industries minister. She has been given the devasthan and the state enterprises departments too. Shakuntala is a Gujjar from eastern Rajasthan and belongs to the state’s most backward classes (MBC).

Party workers felicitate newly incucted minister Mahesh Joshi
Cabinet minister B D Kalla has been given the school education department, earlier held by Govind Singh Dotasra who was dropped in the cabinet rejig following the party’s ‘one man, one post’ rule. Dotasra will continue as the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president.
Following the same rule, health minister Raghu Sharma and revenue minister Harish Chaudhary, who are in charge of AICC in Gujarat and Punjab, respectively, were also dropped. The revenue department has now been allocated to newly inducted Ramlal Jat.

Party workers felicitate newly incucted minister BD Kalla
In a major change, cabinet minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas has been shifted from transport to the food and civil supplies department. The transport department has been given to junior minister Brijendra Singh Ola, a Sachin Pilot loyalist. Congress circles had been abuzz that Pilot wanted Khachariyawas to be dropped from the ministry.

Party workers felicitate newly incucted minister Ramlal Jat
Similarly, the forest department was taken away from Sukhram Bishnoi and given to another Pilot loyalist Hemaram Chaudhary. Bishnoi has been shifted to labour, factory and boilers with independent charge.
Ramesh Meena has been allotted the rural development and panchayati raj department, which was once with Pilot when he was the deputy CM. Pilot, Ramesh and Vishvendra Singh were sacked from the cabinet during the rebellion against Gehlot in July 2020.
Vishvendra, who has been reinducted along with Ramesh, has been given his old department — tourism — along with civil aviation.
Gehlot’s confidante, cabinet minister Mahesh Joshi, has been given PHED and ground water departments.
Cabinet minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya got water resources and Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP) departments.
The state ministers, who were promoted to the cabinet rank, have also got plum portfolios. While Bhajanlal Jatav got PWD, Tikram Jully is the new social justice and empowerment minister. Mamta Bhupesh Bairwa has retained her earlier department of women and child development. New cabinet minister Govind Ram Meghwal has got the department of disaster management and relief.
Besides Mamta, eight other ministers who have retained their portfolios are UDH and local bodies minister Shanti Dhariwal; agriculture and animal husbandry minister Lal Chand Kataria; mines, petroleum and gopalan minister Pramod Jain Bhaya; cooperatives minister Udailal Anjana; minority affairs minister Shale Mohammad; tribal development minister Arjun Singh Banania; youth and sports minister Ashok Chandana; and technical education minister Subhash Garg. Another major change is in the power department, which went to junior minister with independent charge Bhanwar Singh Bhati. He had earlier held the higher education department, which now has been given to junior minister Rajendra Singh Yadav. He also has home and justice departments. In addition, Yadav has retained planning, state motor garage, and language and library.
New junior minister Murari Lal Meena has been given independent charge of agriculture marketing, while junior Rajendra Singh Gudha has got independent charge of Sainik Kalayan, home guards and civil defence. Junior minister Zahida Khan got independent charge of science and technology, printing and stationery departments.
The newly constituted cabinet’s first meeting will be held on Wednesday evening.