Occupy Secretariat: Old-timers are back, but it won’t be a cakewalk

With the announcement of Ashok Gehlot as chief minister and Sachin Pilot as his deputy, now all focus shifts to the cabinet formation. The cabinet, sources say, will be formed balancing power between both Pilot and Gehlot camps and the grapevine is that Pilot could have plum portfolios of UDH and home department.

Gehlot and Pilot will take oath as CM and deputy CM on December 17 and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will grace the event. The chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, alliance partners of UPA and senior leaders of AICC will be invited to the event. “The oath-taking ceremony will be held on December 17 and Rahul Gandhi will be present. We all are like a family,” said Gehlot addressing to the CLP (Congress Legislative Party) meeting at Clarks Amer where the MLAs elected him as the leader.

The old team served as minister to Gehlot in his second term could make a comeback. It rests on Gehlot how many of them he picks as cabinet and state ministers, or he goes to form a new team. Mahendrajeet Malviya, Jitendra Singh, Pramod Jain Bhaya, Hemaram Choudhary, Ramlal Jat, Master Bhanwer Lal Meghwal, Parsadi Lal Meena, Gurmeet Singh Kunnar, Dr Rajkumar Sharma, Shanti Dhariwal, Bharat Singh Kunnar, Rajendra Pareek and Dayaram Parmar have won the election. They all served Gehlot as the minister in his previous cabinet. Of them, Malviya, Meghwal, Bhaya are said to be close to Pilot in the current political scenario. Gehlot loyalists-Govind Singh Dotasara, Lalchand Kataria, Mahesh Joshi- have bright chance to be part of the cabinet. Vishvendra Singh, Raghu Sharma, BD Kalla, who enjoy both camps, become the ministers as well.

From Pilot camp, Ramesh Meena, Brijendra Ola, GR Khatana, Harish Choudhary, Harish Chand Meena and Pratap Singh Khachariyawas are few to be named who could become Gehlot’s minions. Pilot himself can carry two or three important portfolios including home and UDH. Congress had denied ticket to Babulal Nagar, ex-minister of Gehlot government and former union minister Mahadeo Singh Khandela. They won the election and extended support to the leadership of Gehlot. It would be interesting to see that they get the space in the cabinet or not.

A Tightrope Walk

Ashok Gehlot’s Choice

• Jitendra Singh and Rajkumar Sharma are likely to be the first choice in Ashok Gehlot’s cabinet. Both senior leaders have served Gehlot in his previous tenure. 
• Other loyalists who can get a spot in the team are Govind Singh Dotasara, Lalchand Kataria, Mahesh Joshi- have bright chance to be part of the cabinet.

Sachin Pilot’s Stallions

• On the other hand, Harish Choudhary and Ramesh Meena are Sachin Pilot loyalists who would also get a spot in the cabinet to be formed soon. 
• Apart from these two, Brijendra Ola, GR Khatana, Harish Chand Meena and Pratap Singh Khachariyawas are few to be named who could become Gehlot’s minions.