Nishank expands cabinet, inducts four new faces

Four days after being sworn in as Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank on Wednesday expanded his cabinet by inducting eight more ministers, including four new faces.

Four days after being sworn in as Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank on Wednesday expanded his cabinet by inducting eight more ministers, including four new faces.

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Governor B L Joshi administered oath of office and secrecy to Prakash Pant, Diwakar Bhatt, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Rajendra Singh Bhandari -- all cabinet ministers -- and Vijaya Barthawal, Govind Singh Bist, Khajan Singh and Balwant Singh Bhoryal -- all ministers of states.

With the induction of eight ministers, the strength of the Uttarakhand ministry has gone up to 12, including the Chief Minister.

Bist and Barthawal have been inducted as ministers of state with independent charge.

Besides Pant, who was a front-runner for the chief minister's post after Khanduri resigned owning moral responsibility for BJP's rout in the hill state in the recent Lok Sabha elections, Bhatt, Rawat and Bhandari were cabinet ministers in the previous B C Khanduri ministry.

The other ministers inducted today are first timers.