Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu expanded his Cabinet on Sunday, nearly a month after he was sworn in as the CM of Himachal.
Himachal Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath to a total of seven ministers, which expanded the size of Sukhu's Cabinet to nine.
Since Sukhu and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri took oath on December 11, the Cabinet could not be expanded over intense lobbying by MLAs.
Among the Cabinet members sworn in on Sunday is Vikramaditya Singh, the son of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President Pratibha Singh and former Himachal CM and Congress stalwart Virbhadra Singh. Notably, Pratibha was a contender to the post of the Chief Minister of Himachal, which ultimately went to Sukhu.
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Besides Vikramaditya, the other Cabinet members are:
- Dhani Ram Shandil, the eldest minister, from Solan
- Chander Kumar from Jawali in Kangra district
- Harshwardhan Chauhan from Shillai in Sirmaur district
- Jagat Singh Negi from tribal Kinnaur district.
- Rohit Thakur from Jubbal-Kotkhai
- Anirudh Singh from Kasumpti
PCC chief Pratibha's son Vikramaditya is an MLA from Shimla (Rural).
There are still three berths vacant in Sukhu's Cabinet as it can be expanded up to 12 members.
There are still three berths vacant in Sukhu's Cabinet as it can be expanded up to 12 members.
Shimla district with seven MLAs has been given a lion's share in the Cabinet with three ministers and one Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS), while Bilaspur, Mandi and Lahaul and Spiti failed to get any representation.
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The Council of ministers comprises five Rajputs, one Brahmin and one member each from Schedule Tribe, Scheduled Caste and OBC categories.
Before MLAs were sworn in as Cabinet members, Sukhu appointed six CPS and administered them oath of office and secrecy at a simple ceremony. The six CPSs are Sunder Singh Thakur from Kullu, Mohan Lal Bragta from Rohroo in Shimla district, Ram Kumar Chowdhary from Doon in Solan district, Ashish Butail from Palampur, Kishori Lal from Baijnath in Kangra district, and Sanjay Awasthi from Arki in Solan district.
Over the issue of the Cabinet, Sukhu had been under pressure lately both from Cabinet berth aspirants and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was questioning over fulfilment of electoral promises such as the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
Sukhu also faced questions for appointing advisors but not ministers.
"What is further embarrassing for the Congress government is the fact that Sukhu has already given Cabinet ranks to non-legislators appointed as his Principal Political Advisor, Principal Media Advisor, and Principal advisor (IT and Innovations), all of whom are Congress leaders," noted Outlook's Ashwani Sharma earlier.
(With PTI inputs)
