RAJASTHAN Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Friday allotted portfolios to Ministers, keeping eight departments, including Home and Excise, for himself. Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari was given 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, got technical education, higher education, Ayurveda, transport and road safety. Kirodi Lal Meena got the agriculture, rural development, disaster management and public grievances departments, and Rajyvardhan Rathore industries, IT and communications, youth affairs and sports, skill development and entrepreneurship and Sainik Kalyan. Both had resigned from Parliament to fight the Assembly polls in which the BJP bagged 115 out of the 199 seats where elections were held. Barring the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Ministers, 22 Ministers were sworn in at a ceremony at the Raj Bhawan here on December 30. Among the other Cabinet Ministers, Madan Dilawar was allocated the school education, Panchayati Raj and Sanskrit education departments, and Gajendra Singh Khimsar medical and health.

 

Chief Minister Sharma retained the departments of personnel, planning, information and public relations, and anti-corruption bureau. Kanhaiya Lal has public health and engineering and groundwater departments, and Jogaram will be the Minister of parliamentary affairs, law and legal affairs. Suresh Singh Rawat was allotted the water resources department, Avinash Gehlot social justice and empowerment and Sumit Godara food and civil supplies and consumer affairs. The tribal area development and the home guards departments were given to Babulal Kharadi. , while Hemant Meena got the revenue and colonisation departments. The Ministers of State were also allotted portfolios. Minister of State (Independent charge) Surendra Pal Singh TT was given the agriculture marketing board, command area development and water utilisation department, Indira Gandhi canal department and the minority affairs department. 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). Ministers of State Otaram Devasi (Panchayati Raj, rural development, disaster management), Manju Baghmar (public works department, women and child development, child rights department), Vijay Singh (revenue, colonisation, Sainik Kalyan), KK Vishnoi (industry and commerce, youth affairs and sports, skill development and entrepreneurship) and Jawahar Singh Bedham (home, ‘gopalan’ or cow care, animal husbandry and dairy and fisheries) were also allotted portfolios. Earlier in the day, Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra approved the list of portfolios for the Ministers as proposed by the Chief Minister.