New Delhi: Even after 25 days of winning the elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party is yet to form its ministry in Rajasthan. According to a report by The New Indian Express, disagreements – between the RSS and Vasundhara Raje factions, and within the BJP in representing several castes in the state ministry ahead of the Lok Sabha elections – have contributed to the delay.Per The New Indian Express, this is the first time that a winning party has taken such a long time in forming the ministry in the history of the state.Rift between two BJP factions in state?Rajasthan voted the BJP into power on December 3 by a clear majority, winning 115 of the 199 seats it contested. On December 12, the BJP announced that first-time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma will be Rajasthan’s new chief minister. However, 25 days later, the state ministry has still not been formed. The Hindu reported that new Rajasthan CM Sharma has visited New Delhi twice to meet senior leaders, but no news has been forthcoming on the formation of the cabinet yet. Per The New Indian Express, this is the first time that a winning party has taken such a long time in forming the ministry in the state’s history.The BJP has been tight-lipped on the issue, but the party’s inside sources suggest that the delay has been due to disagreements between the BJP’s RSS and Vasundhara Raje factions in the state, reported The New Indian Express on December 29. Per the report, the new cabinet could have as many as “60-70% new faces”; it also claims that as per sources, there are differences of opinion within the BJP over the ministerial candidate for the state home ministry.‘Balancing caste representations’Per the report by The New Indian Express, the BJP’s aim to balance the representation of castes – ahead of the Lok Sabha elections – have also contributed to the prolonged delay in forming a state cabinet.Per a report by the Times of India, the BJP is likely to appoint a chief minister with two deputies to reach out to three prominent communities. According to the report, the BJP is considering MLAs from Rajput, Brahmin, Meena, and Jat communities for the top three posts. After a meeting on Thursday, BJP leader Rajendra Rathore said in a statement that the cabinet would represent “all sections of society” and expanded within a few days, “maybe within a few hours”, reported TNIE.
