Seven ministers join Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Cabinet in Himachal

Tribune News Service

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, January 8

Exactly a month after the election results, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expanded his Cabinet on Sunday with the induction of seven ministers, including Vikramaditya Singh — the son of former CM Virbhadra Singh and state Congress president Pratibha Singh.

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 to the newly inducted ministers at Raj Bhawan.

Sukhu has apparently rewarded party loyalists and his close associates in this first Cabinet expansion.

Among the seven MLAs sworn in as ministers — Dhani Ram Shandil (Solan district), Chander Kumar (Kangra), Jagat Singh Negi (Kinnaur), Harshwardhan Chauhan (Sirmaur), Rohit Thakur (Shimla), Anirudh Singh (Shimla) and Vikramaditya Singh (Shimla) – Chauhan, Thakur and Anirudh are close associates of the CM. Shandil, Negi and Kumar, on the other hand, are among the senior-most leaders in the party while Vikramaditya apparently has been included to keep factionalism at bay. Except Vikramaditya Singh, who is a two-time MLA, all other inductees in the Council of Ministers have won three or more elections.

Shimla district with seven MLAs has been given the lion’s share in the Cabinet with three ministers while Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts are unrepresented in the Cabinet. Kangra, which gave 10 seats to the party, has got just one minister.

CM Sukhu also appointed six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS). Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Jai Ram Thakur alleged that the Congress government had failed to give adequate representation to various regions in the Cabinet. The former CM also criticised the government over the appointment of six CPS, saying it would put a burden of crores of rupees on the state exchequer.

The Chief Minister, however, has tried to address the inadequate representation of Kangra in the Cabinet by appointing two CPS from this district, namely Kishori Lal and Ashish Butail. Besides, the CM has kept three Cabinet berths vacant, which can have representatives from Kangra and other districts in the future.

“Kangra has got two CPS along with a minister. The district will get due representation in the future,” the Chief Minister said while trying to play down the inadequate representation for the largest district. Mandi, Bilaspur and Lahaul Spiti do not have any representation in the Cabinet as well as among the CPS at the moment.

The Rajput-dominated Cabinet includes five Rajputs and one member each from Brahmin, Schedule Tribe, Scheduled Caste and OBC categories. Five ministers, including the Chief Minister, are Rajputs, while Mukesh Agnihotri is the only Brahmin in the Cabinet. Dhani Ram Shandil, Chander Kumar and Jagat Singh Negi are representatives of the SC, OBC and ST categories.

Considering that the party high command wanted more representation for the SC category, two SC MLAs Mohan Lal Brakta (Shimla district) and Kishori Lal (Kangra) have been made CPS.

The portfolios of the ministers are yet to be decided.

New ministers

Chander Kumar (Kangra)

Harshwardhan Chauhan (Sirmaur)

Jagat Singh Negi (Kinnaur)

Rohit Thakur (Shimla)

Dhani Ram Shandil (Solan)

Anirudh Singh (Shimla)

Vikramaditya Singh (Shimla)

Chief Parliamentary Secys

Sunder Singh Thakur ( Kullu)

Mohan Lal Brakta ( Shimla)

Ram Kumar Chowdhary (Solan)

Ashish Butail (Kangra)

Kishori Lal (Kangra)

Sanjay Awasthi (Solan )

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