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Himachal CM inducts 7 ministers into his cabinet, appoints 6 chief parliamentary secretaries
Only Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri were sworn in on December 11 following the Congress’ win in the hill state; three berths still vacant as the maximum number of ministers, including the chief minister, cannot exceed 12 in the 68-member House
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday inducted seven ministers into his cabinet and appointed six legislators as chief parliamentary secretaries.
The strength of the cabinet has now risen to nine. Only Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri were sworn in on December 11 following the Congress’ win in the hill state. Three berths are still vacant as the maximum number of ministers, including the chief minister, cannot exceed 12.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the cabinet ministers in a simple ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan in Shimla.
Those who have been given the cabinet rank are Dhani Ram Shandil from Solan assembly constituency, Chander Kumar from Jawali in Kangra, Jagat Singh Negi from Kinnaur, Harshwardhan Chauhan from Sirmaur’s Shillai, Rohit Thakur from Jubbal-Kotkhai, Anirudh Singh from Kasumpati andVikramaditya Singh from Shimla (Rural).
Congress ‘struggles’ to strike balance
The regional imbalance in the cabinet was starkly visible as on Sunday, three ministers and one chief parliamentary secretary were inducted from the Shimla district, which comprises eight assembly seats, while one each was picked from Kangra, Solan, Sirmaur and Kinnaur districts.
Just one MLA, Chander Kumar, from politically sensitive Kangra district with 15 assembly seats got the cabinet berth on Sunday. The Congress had won from nine assembly segments in the district. During the BJP regime, Kangra had sent three ministers and a Vidhan Sabha speaker.
From Sirmaur, where the party won three of the total five seats, six-time legislator Harshwardhan Chauhan made it to the cabinet.
Dhani Ram Shandil was given a cabinet berth, whereas two chief parliamentary secretaries were appointed from the Solan district which has five seats.
The Congress won only one seat from Mandi, so no one was to accommodated from there, while Lahaul and Spiti district did not get any representation.
The appointment of chief parliamentary secretaries -- Ram Kumar Chaudhary (Doon), Sanjay Awasthy (Arki), Mohan Lal Brakta (Rohru), Sunder Singh Thakur (Kullu), Ashish Butail (Palampur), and Kishori Lal (Baijnath) -- is now being seen as an attempt to strike a regional balance and placate the leaders who aspired for ministerial berths.
Of the seven newly inducted ministers, one hails from the Scheduled Caste category, one is from the Schedule Tribe, one from Other Backward Class, and four belong to dominant Rajput community. Sukhu hails from the Rajput community, while his deputy Agnihotri is Brahmin.
There were speculations that Rajesh Dharmani, the Congress MLA from Ghumarwin, will make it to the cabinet, but his name was not considered. A staunch Sukhu loyalist, Dharmani did not even attend the ceremony. Kuldeep Rathore from Theog, Bhawani Singh Pathania from Fatehpur and Vinay Kumar from Renukaji also gave the event a pass.
“The cabinet has been constituted keeping in mind the aspiration of the people of Himachal and due consultation with the party high command. The balance between castes and regions has been well-maintained in the cabinet. Three cabinet berths are still vacant, but would be filled up soon,” Sukhu said.
