Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat gets new cabinet with 4 new faces

The Congress has termed the new cabinet a mere "eyewash" to cover up the government's "failures."

The suspense on the new cabinet of chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat ended on Friday after eleven of his party MLAs took oath as ministers in his government at Governor House on Friday evening.

Newly-appointed Uttarakhand BJP state president Madan Kaushik and Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat in Dehradun. (ANI)

Among the ministers, four are new faces including Vishen Singh Chuphal, Bansidhar Bhagat, Ganesh Joshi and Swami Yatishwaranand. The remaining are from the previous cabinet including Subodh Uniyal, Satpal Maharaj, Arvind Pandey, Dhan Singh Rawat, Rekha Arya, Harak Singh Rawat and Yashpal Arya. Only Madan Kaushik has not been repeated as he was appointed the new state president on Friday.

Among the new faces, Bansidhar Bhagat, who is party MLA from Kaladhungi, had served as BJP state president before Kaushik. He is likely to be the deputy chief minister, a position that has been created for the first time in the history of Uttarakhand.

According to party insiders, he had been given a prominent position in the government as a "compensation for the state president post."

Among other prominent new faces in the cabinet, Chuphal's inclusion had been an attempt by the party to pacify him as he had expressed his resentment against the working of previous CM Trivendra Singh Rawat before the Central leadership. An MLA from Didihat constituency, Chuphal had also reportedly written a letter to the party Central leadership during the recently concluded budget session in the state assembly in Gairsain along with thirteen other party MLAs. He, along with other ministers, had threatened to tender their resignation if Trivendra Singh Rawat is not replaced. It was this incident that reportedly triggered the politician crisis in the BJP.

Another new face, MLA from Haridwar rural, Yatishwaranand, is believed to have been rewarded for his feat of defeating former CM Harish Rawat of Congress in the 2017 assembly elections. His inclusion is also important as the party had to have a representation from Haridwar after Kaushik, who also hails from the region, was appointed the new party chief in the state.

The fourth MLA in the cabinet is three-time BJP MLA from Mussoorie, Ganesh Joshi. Considered a "public leader" in his area, Joshi is believed to have been rewarded for his loyalty to the party.

Political experts, however, have described the new cabinet as an act of balance by the newly-appointed CM on caste and region equations along with pacifying the "rebel MLAs."

Political expert, MM Semwal, said, "the new cabinet has six ministers from the Garhwal region while five are from Kumaon. Those from Garhwal include MLAs like Satpal Maharaj, Subodh Uniyal, Harak Singh Rawat, Dhan Singh Rawat, Ganesh Joshi and Swami Yatishwaranand while Yashpal Arya, Rekha Arya, Arvind Pandey, Vishan Singh Chuphal and Bansidhar Bhagat come from Kumaon."

Semwal added, "by including Chuphal, the party leadership seems to have finally doused the fire of rebellion."

Meanwhile, the Congress has termed the new cabinet a mere "eyewash" to cover up the government's "failures."

Party state president Pritam Singh said, "The new cabinet will make no difference for the BJP with a year left for the next state assembly elections in 2022."

"If they are thinking that changing the CM and having a new cabinet will help them in the elections then they are wrong because the public has already made up their mind to show them the door in 2022," said Singh.