Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhu returns to Shimla; Cabinet expansion today
shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu will expand his Cabinet on Sunday almost a month after he had taken oath as Chief Minister. Sukhu had been camping in Delhi for the past three days to get the party high command nod to the list of ministers.
Raj Bhawan sources confirmed to Millennium Post that the swearing-in ceremony of the Cabinet ministers will take place on Sunday at 10.
“We have not received a formal intimation from the government and have not yet got the names so far. Yet, it’s clear that the Cabinet expansion will finally happen tomorrow.”
Immediately on his arrival to Shimla, Sukhu said that discussions on the Cabinet formation were complete.
“The Cabinet expansion is very much on cards,” the Chief Minister told mediapersons upon his arrival. As Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is scheduled to leave for Goa, his home state, the swearing-in ceremony will happen before his departure.
Infact, the Governor had delayed his departure for a day. Instead of Saturday, he will fly to Goa on Sunday afternoon now. Almost a month after Sukhu and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri were sworn-in, the Cabinet formation had remained deferred for lack of consensus and lobbying.
The Chief Minister, after landing in Shimla, drove straight to his office, where he had discussions with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC incharge Rajiv Shukla and senior party leaders like K C Venugopal.
He also had a brief stopover at Chandigarh where he apparently discussed the Cabinet issues with Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri. It is learnt that Agnihotri is also batting for his loyalists to be taken in the Cabinet while PCC president Pratibha Singh has also met the central leaders to lobby for her son Vikramaditya Singh, a two-time MLA besides two-three other names.
Most MLAs of his camp, who were expecting Cabinet berths, reached out to him immediately on his return to Shimla. There are a total 10 vacancies in the Cabinet after Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister filling up two posts.
The size of the Cabinet in Himachal Pradesh is limited to 12 members including the Chief Minister.
Earlier in the day, speculations were rife about Congress president Kharge asking the Chief Minister to include more than one dalit MLA in the Cabinet as his list had just one, Col (Rtd) Dhani Ram Shandil.
Other Dalit MLAs who could make it to the Cabinet if Kharge prevails may be amongst four names, Vinay Kumar (Renuka ji) Nand Lal (Rampur), Mohan Lal Brakta (Rohru) and Yadvinder Goma (Jaisinghpur).
Those whose names were almost clear are, Harshvardan Chauhan, a six-time MLA from Shailai (Sirmaur), Chander Kumar, an OBC leader and former minister (also six-time MLA), Rohit Thakur, a four-time MLA from Jubbal-Kotkhai, Jagat singh Negi (Kinnaur), Rajesh Dharmani (Ghumarwin), Vikramaditya Singh (Shimla, Rural), Sundar Thakur (Kullu) and R S Bali (Nagrota Bhawan).
Kangra and Shimla have made the task of picking up names tough for the Chief Minister as having claimants more than actual vacant Cabinet positions. Thus, to strike a balance of caste, loyalty, seniority and legislative experience, has made the selection really difficult.
