Rajasthan cabinet likely to be expanded tomorrow: Sources

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], December 29 : A fortnight after Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and his two deputies, Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa were sworn in, state cabinet expansion is likely to take place tomorrow at Raj Bhavan in Jaipur, sources said.
According to the sources, around 18 to 20 MLAs will take oaths as ministers. The faces of some new and experienced MLAs will be included in Sharma's cabinet, sources said.
In the expansion of the cabinet in Rajasthan, special attention will be given to caste and regional equations, especially keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections to be held after a few months. In the cabinet expansion, care will be taken to ensure that all regions get representation and at the same time, social engineering will be done to ensure that all major castes also get full representation in the cabinet.
At present, Rajasthan has a Brahmin Chief Minister in Bhajan Lal Sharma, while Deputy Chief Ministers Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa are Rajput and Scheduled Caste respectively. The major castes having influence in Rajasthan include the Jat community,
Meena community and Gurjar community along with other communities are also considered certain to get a place in the cabinet.
Meanwhile, earlier today, CM Sharma arrived in the national capital and as per the sources, he will hold a meeting with the senior party leaders over cabinet expansion. After this, the final approval will be made on the cabinet faces.
The opposition parties in Rajasthan have been targeting the BJP-led government over the delay in the cabinet formation.
Earlier, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that due to the delay in the cabinet formation, the governance has come to a standstill."Disappointment has now started spreading among the public because the people of Rajasthan gave a clear mandate to BJP on 3rd December, but even after 22 days, the cabinet has not been formed yet, due to which governance has come to a standstill. Every department is also in a state of confusion. The public is watching which ministers they should approach to solve their problems. The cabinet should be formed as soon as possible so that the functioning of the government can run smoothly," Gehlot wrote in a post on 'X'.
"It has also come to light through the media that treatment is not being provided by private hospitals under the Chiranjeevi scheme. The present government should also clarify the situation regarding the schemes of our government so that the public does not face any problems and the previous system should continue till a new system is implemented," he added.