Lone Woman MLA Makes It To Rajasthan's Cabinet Of 23 Ministers

Of the total strength of 23 ministers in Rajasthan cabinet, only one woman made it as a minister. Mamta Bhupesh, who is an MLA from Sikrai constituency, is the only woman among the 23 Members of Legislative Assembly who took the oath today at Raj Bhawan as the Minister of State in the cabinet.

The state’s new Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy CM Sachin Pilot in a meeting with party leader Rahul Gandhi decided upon the cabinet. The 23 politicians include 13 Cabinet and 10 state ministers. 22 of the total, are the members of the Congress party while one is from its alliance, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

There are 22 women MLAs who won in the recent elections and yet only one woman could get in the list of cabinet ministers. There were 2,291 candidates who contested the legislative assembly elections of Rajasthan this year and of these, 182 candidates were women, which is 8% of the total number for the states 199 constituencies. A total of 23 women candidates won the elections which is fairly good when compared with other states as it stands at 11% while other states have as low as 3% to 0 women MLAs. However, for Rajasthan’s own history, the number of elected women MLAs has only fallen as the state had elected 28 women candidates in 2008 and 25 in 2013.

Gandhi has pushed for women’s representation insistently and openly in the last year, however, this wouldn’t translate into results if cabinets remain manels as they have been since the beginning.

ALSO READ: Why Are We Still So Reluctant To Acknowledge Male Aggression?

The numbers reflect that while Rajasthan’s public chooses a great deal of women MLAs across the state, it is rare that these elected MLAs reach the level of becoming ministers. While the cabinet has several first-time ministers and echoes of Congress’ fresh strategy in the state, women’s representation remains minimal as usual.

Congress leader, Gandhi has pushed for women’s representation insistently and openly in the last year, however, this wouldn’t translate into results if cabinets remain manels as they have been since the beginning.

The cabinet ministers include BD Kalla, Shanti Dhariwal, Pramod Jain Bhaya, Vishvendra Singh, Harish Chaudhary, Parasadi Lal Meena, Master Bhanwarlal Meghwal, Lalchand Kataria, Dr Raghu Sharma, Ramesh Chandra Meena, Udalal Awjana, Pratap Singh Khachariyavas and Saleh Mohammed.

The list of state ministers comprise of Govind Singh Dotasara, Arjun Bamania, Bhanwar Singh Bhati, Sukhram Vishnoi, Ashok Chandana, Shrimati Mamta Bhupesh, Tikaram Julie, Bhajanlal Jatav, Rajendra Yadav, Subhash Garg(RLD).

Picture credit- India Prime

More Stories by Poorvi Gupta