Congress to form 'Shadow Cabinet' ahead of Rajasthan budget session

Jaipur: On the eve of the budget presentation by the Bhajanlal government in the Rajasthan Assembly, the Congress Legislature Party is set to convene on Tuesday evening at a private hotel in Jaipur. The meeting aims to finalize the party's strategy and establish a 'shadow cabinet' to scrutinize and challenge the government's decisions during the budget session.

The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of Leader of Opposition Tikaram Julie. In this meeting, the issues and strategy of Congress to attack the government in the budget session will be decided. The party, besides planning to raise the burning issues in the House, is also preparing to form a shadow cabinet and will closely monitor each decision of the government as well as each minister' department.

This shadow cabinet will comprise senior leaders who will be fielded in the House to confront the CM and every minister on different issues, said sources.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel, reacting to the claim of Congress' shadow cabinet, said that if the opposition party forms a shadow cabinet only to disrupt the proceedings of the House and stall the bills related to development works, then we will give a strong reply to it.

"When the Congress was in power, the Congress ministers could not solve the problems of the people. The ministers of the Congress government themselves sat on a dharna against their government and Chief Minister Gehlot maintained silence. When the Bhajanlal government of the state is working day and night to solve the problems of the people by staying among the people, there is panic among the Congress leaders," he said.

Further, in the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, the party's state chief, Govind Singh Dotasra, Leader of Opposition Tikaram Julie, State In charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and other MLAs will be present. Some MLAs from the alliance may also join the meeting.

Shadow Cabinet in general comprises a group of senior opposition leaders who are appointed to reflect the position of the ruling cabinet, and those given positions are from the opposition.

Speaking on reports of Congress' shadow cabinet, Minister Patel said, "There is no coordination in the Congress Legislature Party. There is a fight for supremacy between Leader of Opposition Tikaram Julie and Congress State President Govind Singh Dotasra. At the same time, Congress MLAs do not consider the Leader of Opposition as their leader, in such a situation, you can guess how successful the shadow cabinet will be. BJP's Bhajanlal Sharma government is constantly taking historic decisions in the public interest. If the Congress really has the intention to do public welfare, then it should support the ruling party in the House in matters of public interest and cooperate in the proceedings of the House."

Input from IANS