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A mix of young and old in new Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur’s cabinet
The average age of the Himachal Pradesh cabinet is 55 years with six MLAs getting a ministerial berth for the first time.
The new Himachal Pradesh cabinet marks a generational shift in state polity and strikes a balance between caste and regional equations. Nine members of the cabinet, including chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, are below the age of 55.
Thakur and his 11 cabinet ministers were sworn in by governor Acharya Devvrat at the historic Ridge here on Wednesday. The elevation of 52-year-old Thakur marks the rise of the common man and the end of a political era dominated by old war horses. Born to a poor mason, he launched his political career as a member of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. He then became the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP’s youth wing, and won his first election in 1998.
Thakur, a five-term legislator from Seraj assembly segment of Mandi district, is known to keep a low profile. He was nominated as the chief minister after the shock defeat of the BJP’s chief ministerial face, Prem Kumar Dhumal, from the Sujanpur assembly segment.
Thakur selected his cabinet with extreme care, striking a balance between youngsters and elders while ensuring that politically significant castes and regions find adequate representation.
Blend of young, old
Mahinder Singh, 67, is the senior-most minister in the new cabinet while 46-year-old Rajiv Saizal is the youngest. The third-time legislator from the Kasauli assembly segment (reserved for the scheduled caste), Saizal is well known in party circles for his simplicity.
Generational shift
Chief minister Thakur and eight of his ministers are below the age of 55. The cabinet has only four senior citizens. The average age of the cabinet is 55 years, with five old faces and six new ones. Mahender Singh, Kishan Kapoor, Sarveen Chaudhary, Anil Sharma and Ram Lal Markanda have served as ministers in the past as well.
Caste equations
The chief minister has tried to accord a fair representation to all communities of Himachal Pradesh in the cabinet.
The dominant Rajputs, comprising 37% of the total population, got maximum representation with Thakur and five of his cabinet ministers— Mahender Singh, Virender Kanwar, Vipin Parmar, Bikram Singh and Govind Singh Thakur.
While Suresh Bhardwaj and Anil Sharma stand for Brahmins, Ram Lal Markanda and Kishan Kapoor belong to the ST community. Sarveen Chaudhary and Rajiv Saizal represent the OBC and SC segments respectively.
Regional balance
The politically significant district of Kangra enjoys maximum representation with four ministers as far as regional distribution of power is concerned. Kangra has 15 seats in the 68-member house, comprising almost 1/4th of the total strength.
Mandi has three berths in the cabinet, including that of the chief minister. One minister each hails from Kullu, Shimla, Solan, Una and Lahaul-Spiti.
The four parliamentary constituencies of Shimla, Mandi, Kangra and Hamirpur also find adequate representation in the cabinet. The Mandi parliamentary constituency has been accorded three cabinet berths, besides that of the chief minister, while Kangra and Hamirpur have three each. The Shimla parliamentary constituency has bagged two berths.