The Congress government in Rajasthan has made the long-awaited political appointments by naming 58 persons, including 11 MLAs, to as many as 44 boards, corporations and commissions. The MLAs accommodated at the new positions included those who did not get ministerial berths in the State Cabinet expansion in November 2021 despite their high expectations.
The political appointments were one of the major demands raised by the Sachin Pilot camp in the ruling Congress. The main contenders for these posts were the political leaders, who contested the 2018 State Assembly election on the party ticket and lost, as well as the party workers not holding any formal post in the organisation.
With the Assembly election due by the next year-end, the new appointments seem to have been made to mollify the party workers and bring the rival factions together. The Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs who had joined the Congress in 2019, taking its tally in the 200-member Assembly to 106, have also been suitably rewarded.
MLAs accommodated
The MLAs accommodated at the new posts were Mahadeo Singh Khandela, Deepchand Khariya, Rafiq Khan, Khiladi Lal Bairwa, Hakam Ali Khan, Lakhan Singh, Jogendra Singh, Krishna Poonia, Laxman Meena, Ramila Khedia and Mewa Ram Jain. However, most of the appointees were Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s supporters and very few from the Pilot camp could make it to the coveted posts.
Former Pradesh Congress Committee president Chandrabhan was appointed vice-chairman of the Twenty-Point Programme Implementation Committee, while Leader of Opposition during the previous BJP regime Rameshwar Dudi was appointed chairman of the Rajasthan State Agro-Industries Development Board.
Mr. Gehlot’s confidants Rajiv Arora, Pukhraj Parashar and Dharmendra Rathore were appointed chairmen of Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation, Public Grievances Redressal Committee and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, respectively.
Former Rajasthan High Court Judge Bhanwaru Khan was appointed chairman of the State Other Backward Classes Commission, Mahila Congress president Rehana Riaz Chishti chairperson of the State Women’s Commission and former Minister Brij Kishore Sharma chairman of Rajasthan Khadi & Gramodyog Board.
