The Hindu : Two Deputy CMs for Rajasthan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 25, 2003

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National

Two Deputy CMs for Rajasthan

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI JAN. 24. In a move that is apparently aimed at providing a fillip to the State Government and the Congress in Rajasthan, the party president, Sonia Gandhi, tonight approved of the appointment of Kamla Beniwal and Banwari Lal Bairwa as Deputy Chief Ministers. The Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, was also given the go-ahead to include Ram Singh Bishnoi into his Council of Ministers. Ms. Gandhi set up a 14-member coordination committee headed by the AICC general secretary in-charge of the State, Ambica Soni. It has been entrusted with the task of bringing about greater cohesion between the party and the Government, and work as a mechanism for involving party workers in the Government's decision-making process.

The committee includes Mr. Gehlot, the PCC chief, Girija Vyas, Natwar Singh, Ram Niwas Mirdha, the two former Rajasthan Chief Ministers, Jaganath Pahadia and Shiv Charan Mathur, besides several heavyweights such as Nawal Kishore Sharma, Gulab Singh Shaktawat, Parduman Singh, Tayab Hussain, Govind Singh Gujjar and Dayaram Parmar. It also includes two senior party MPs, Shish Ram Ola and Prasadilal Meena. The Congress also decided to constitute district programme implementation committees, with the Minister in-charge of the district as chairperson. The committee will review the decisions taken by the State Government in the last four years, and monitor social security schemes, rural development programmes and measures for infrastructure development.

The appointment of the two Deputy Chief Ministers is significant, as the Congress has sought to build a social coalition of members of the Backward Caste, Brahmins, Jats, and the SCs, ahead of the Assembly polls. Ms. Beniwal is a Jat while Mr. Bairwa is a member of the Scheduled Tribe.

There were indications earlier that the leadership was inclined to appoint a new PCC chief but it appears to have changed its mind in view of the opposition to such a proposal in a section of the party.

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