Seven new ministers were on Sunday inducted in the chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Himachal Pradesh cabinet, taking its strength to nine, nearly a month after the Congress came to power in the hill state.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered oath to the newly inducted ministers, which included Vikramaditya Singh, the son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, in a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.
Besides the seven ministers, Sukhu also appointed six legislators as chief parliamentary secretaries (CPS), who were also administered the oath of office and secrecy at the state secretariat. Appointment of CPS is being seen as an attempt to strike a regional balance and placate the leaders who too aspired for ministerial berths.
“Cabinet has been constituted keeping in mind the aspiration of the people of the state, and (after) due consultation with the party high command,” said the chief minister after the cabinet expansion.
Sukhu and deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri were sworn in on December 11, three days after the Congress won the assembly elections bagging 40 out of the 68 seats. The expansion of cabinet was pending since and after Sunday, three berths are still vacant as maximum number of ministers, including the chief minister, cannot exceed 12.
“The balance between caste and regions has been well maintained in the cabinet,” said Sukhu. “Three cabinet berths have been left vacant, (and) they would be filled up soon.”
{{/usCountry}}“The balance between caste and regions has been well maintained in the cabinet,” said Sukhu. “Three cabinet berths have been left vacant, (and) they would be filled up soon.”
{{/usCountry}}The newly inducted ministers are Dhani Ram Shandil (82), the eldest legislator from Solan, Chander Kumar (78) from Jawali in Kangra district, Harshwardhan Chauhan (58) from Shillai in Sirmaur district, Jagat Singh Negi (65) from tribal Kinnaur district, Rohit Thakur (48) from Jubbal-Kotkhai, Anirudh Singh (45) from Kasumpti and Vikramaditya Singh (33) from Shimla (Rural).
Among the districts, Shimla got the lion’s share in the cabinet with three berths, while Kangra, Solan, Kinnaur, and Sirmaur contributed a minister each. The council of ministers comprises five Rajputs, one Brahmin and one member each from Schedule Tribe, Scheduled Caste and OBC categories.
The MLAs who took oath as CPSs are Sunder Singh Thakur (Kullu), Mohan Lal Brakta (Rohru), Ram Kumar Chaudhary (Doon), Ashish Butail (Palampur), Kishori Lal (Baijanth) and Sanjay Awasthi (Arki).
Meanwhile, police had a tough time controlling hundreds of Congress supporters who tried to forcibly enter the already-packed Darbar hall of Raj Bhavan during the oath-taking ceremony and even damaged glass pane of two doors.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged the Congress government failed to give adequate representation to various regions in the cabinet expansion.
“Out of the 13 appointments made by the Congress government, eight MLAs have been appointed from Shimla parliamentary constituency while the rest of the three parliamentary constituencies have not been given adequate share,” leader of Opposition in assembly Jai Ram Thakur said in a statement.
The former chief minister also criticised the Congress government over the appointment of six CPS, saying it would put a burden of crores of rupees on the state exchequer.