Vasundhara keeps out old guard, fresh faces in

‘‘Caste equations and qualification of the MLAs were both taken into account,’’ the Chief Minister said after the swearing-in ceremony. ‘‘People from all walks have been represented, including both young and the experienced.’’

In the process, Raje has ended up raising the hackles of the RSS. After spending hours with the Sangh Parivar over the lists, Raje picked only one of their nominees, Vasudev Devnani. Moreover, Raje also chose to overlook objections raised by the RSS on the names of certain MLAs and included all of them in her Cabinet.

To avoid confusion, Raje kept the list of ministers a secret till the last minute. Most of the ministers were informed only hours before the swearing-in and asked to reach the BJP headquarters.

Senior BJP MLAs who were certain of making it to the Cabinet even arrived at the BJP headquarters in the morning, hoping to join the procession to the Raj Bhavan, only to be told their names didn’t figure on the list.

Brushing aside murmurs of discontentment, Raje said the ‘‘talents’’ of those left out would be utilised in other spheres. Raje’s young and representative cabinet has only one woman. Balancing out the castes, she has inducted four Jat MLAs, three Rajputs, two Brahmins and one each from the Sikh, Sindhi, Gujjar and Jain communities.