Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma Allocate Portfolios, Retains 8 Ministries, Dy CM Diya Kumari Gets 6

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma assigned portfolios to ministers on Friday, keeping eight ministries, including home and excise, for himself.

CM Sharma also retained the departments of personnel, planning, information and public relations, and anti-corruption bureau.

Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari was allocated finance, tourism, art and culture, public works department, and women and child development.

Prem Chand Bairwa, who was also sworn in as a deputy chief minister on December 15 received technical education, higher education, Ayurveda, transport, and road safety.

Kirodi Lal Meena got agriculture, rural development, disaster management, and public grievances departments, while Rajyvardhan Rathore got industries, IT and communications, youth affairs and sports, skill development and entrepreneurship, and Sainik Kalyan.

Meena and Bairwa had resigned from Parliament to fight the assembly polls in which the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) bagged 115 out of the 199 seats where elections were held.

On December 30, at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan, 22 ministers—aside from the chief minister and the deputy chief ministers—were sworn in.

Madan Dilawar was assigned the school education, Panchayati Raj, and Sanskrit education departments, while Gajendra Singh Khimsar was assigned the medical and health departments.

Jogaram will serve as the minister of legislative affairs, law, and legal affairs, while Kanhaiya Lal has departments of groundwater and public health engineering.

Avinash Gehlot was given responsibility for social justice and empowerment, Sumit Godara for civil supplies and consumer affairs, and Suresh Singh Rawat for water resources.

Babulal Kharadi received the departments of home guards and tribal area development, while Hemant Meena got departments of revenue and colonization.

PORTFOLIOS TO MINISTERS OF STATE

The departments of minority affairs, Indira Gandhi Canal, command area development and water use, and agriculture marketing board were assigned to Minister of State (Independent charge) Surendra Pal Singh TT.

Surendra Pal Singh is the BJP’s nominee for the Karanpur seat where polling was held on Friday. He was sworn in as a minister in the ceremony held last week.

Other ministers of state with independent charge are Sanjay Sharma (forest, environment and climate change, science and technology), Gautam Kumar (cooperatives, civil aviation), Jhabar Singh Kharra (urban development, local self-government) and Heera Lal Nagar (energy).

State ministers Jawahar Singh Bedham (home, ‘gopalan’ or cow care, animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries), KK Vishnoi (industry and commerce, youth affairs and sports, skill development and entrepreneurship), Vijay Singh (revenue, colonization, Sainik Kalyan), Manju Baghmar (public works department, women and child development, child rights department), and Otaram Devasi (Panchayati Raj, rural development, disaster management) were also assigned portfolios.

Governor of Rajasthan Kalraj Mishra had earlier in the day approved the chief minister’s suggested list of ministerial responsibilities.

PM MODI VISITS JAIPUR

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the BJP office to meet office-bearers and newly elected MLAs. This is PM Modi’s maiden visit to the party office in Jaipur since becoming prime minister.

He is also expected to address a conference of DGPs and IGPs from across the country being held in the city. The prime minister arrived at Jaipur airport, where he was received by Governor Kalraj Mishra and Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, among others.