PIL in Rajasthan HC challenges swearing-in of Diya Kumari, Prem Chand Bairwa as deputy CMs; claims post unconstitutional

In the PIL, advocate Omprakash Solanki sought cancellation of the appointments of the Deputy Chief Minister post citing that there is no such post mentioned in the Constitution of India and hence it is unconstitutional.

Jaipur:A PIL was filed in the Rajasthan High Court on Saturday challenging the 'swearing-in' of Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa as deputy chief ministers, claiming that the Constitution does not recognise this post.

The division bench of the High Court is going to hear the PIL in the coming days. Governor, Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Deputy CM Diya Kumari and Premchand Bairwa have been made parties to this PIL filed by advocate Omprakash Solanki.

Solanki has also sought cancellation of the appointments. "Deputy chief minister post is unconstitutional and there is no such post mentioned in the Constitution of India," he said.

On Friday, while BJP leader Bhajan Lal Sharma took oath as chief minister, Diya Kumari and Bairwa were sworn in as deputy chief ministers at a ceremony, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top leadership of the party.

Diya Kumari, who was MP from Rajsamand, is a Rajput face in the party. She won Jaipur’s Vidhyadhar Nagar constituency with a margin of 71,368 votes.

The 51-year-old BJP leader became MLA for the first time in 2013 from Sawai Madhopur. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, she was elected as MP.

Diya Kumari is the daughter of erstwhile Jaipur Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh, who earned distinction in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 as a Lieutenant Colonel and Commanding Officer of the Para Commandos of the 10th Parachute Regiment.

She is also associated with several non-government organisations, including the Eye Bank Society of Rajasthan, and Rays, an NGO working for HIV+ children, of which she is the patron.