The Congress government in Rajasthan has appointed two Bahujan Samaj Party-turned-Congress MLAs as heads of State bodies in a move perceived as an attempt to placate them ahead of the 2023 Assembly election. Discontent was brewing among the six MLAs elected in the 2018 Assembly poll on BSP ticket, who merged with the ruling Congress in 2019.
While Nagar (Bharatpur) MLA Wajib Ali was appointed chairperson of the State Food Commission, Tijara (Alwar) MLA Sandeep Yadav was appointed chairperson of the Bhiwadi Urban Infrastructure Development Board. The orders, issued late on Monday, stated that the new chairpersons would not get salary, allowances or pecuniary benefits.
The turncoat MLAs had been complaining for several months that the promises made to them were not fulfilled. The legislators had supported Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during the political crisis in 2020 caused by the rebellion of then Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and voted for the Congress candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections held in June this year.
