The seven-day-old Vasundhra Raje ministry in Rajasthan was expanded on Friday with the induction of 12 BJP MLAs, two of them tainted in high-profile murder cases. Of those sworn in by Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva in Raj Bhawan, nine are in the cabinet rank and the rest are Ministers of State with independent charges.
G C Kataria, a former Home Minister during in previous term of Raje, is accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case of Gujarat in which CBI has filed a supplementary charge sheet against him early this year. A Mumbai court has granted him an anticipatory bail. Kataria has been inducted as cabinet minister.
BJP MLA Rajendra Singh Rathore, also inducted as a cabinet minister, was arrested and sent to jail by CBI in connection with the Dara Singh fake encounter case. A Jaipur court later discharged him in a controversial order even before charges were framed against him.
Others sworn in as cabinet ministers are - Kalicharan Saraf, Kailash Meghwal, Sanwar Lal Jat, Prabhu Lal Saini, Gajendra Singh Kheenvsar, Yunus Khan and Nandlal Meena. All of them are former ministers. The three new MoS with independent charge are Arun Chaturvedi, Ajay Singh and Hemsingh Bhadana.
60-year-old Raje, who led BJP to a landslide victory in Rajasthan Assembly polls, was sworn-in as the Chief Minister for the second time on December 13. BJP has won 163 of the 200 seats.
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