Summary:
JAIPUR: Rajasthan would get a deputy chief minister on December 17, the day when the oath-taking ceremony has been scheduled. This will not be the first time when the state would get a deputy CM. Nor will it be the first time when the chief minister-designate Ashok Gehlot would have a deputy CM.When Gehlot headed the state government from 1998 to 2003, he had two deputy CMs — Kamla Beniwal and Banwari Lal Bairwa . Wary of a similar result in the 2003 state elections, Gehlot reshuffled his cabinet and appointed two deputy CMs months before the polls.“Gehlot knows that caste plays an important role in Rajasthan politics. But Bhabhra lost two successive elections after that and many still believe it was Shekhawat’s sweet revenge,” said a BJP office-bearer.Rajasthan’s first deputy CM was Tikaram Paliwal in 1952..