In a move reminiscent of the Kamraj plan of the 1960s, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has got the resignations of all his ministers. But there ends the similarity. In the 60s, Kamraj, the then Congress president had got all the senior ministers to resign from Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet so that they could be available for party work.
But this time, Gehlot has been forced to undertake this mid-course correction as his ministers are embroiled in controversies that have made their position untenable.
“However, there would be not much changing and chopping or induction of new faces. This is basically an exercise in reshaping the government and reallocating the portfolios,” said a senior party functionary. At best, five ministers would be dropped. Prominent among those whose portfolios could be affected is the home minister Shanti Dhariwal.
In this reshuffle exercise, Gehlot has to look for an appropriate replacement for Mahipal Maderna, the sacked minister who has been facing a CBI probe in the case of the missing nurse Bhanwari Devi. Maderna hails from the dominant Jat community, and Gehlot has always had an uneasy equation with them.
The resignaton by the ministers only strengthenhis position vis-a-vis the party leadership.
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