SHIMLA: The long-awaited expansion of Himachal Pradesh The cabinet will take place in Shimla on Sunday, with the prime minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu back from Delhi on Saturday night. According to sources, it is likely that 7-8 ministers will be sworn in and the remaining positions will be filled later.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Raj Bhavan in Shimla at 10am on Sunday. Rajender Governor Vishwanath Arlekar prepares to leave for Goa after the swearing-in ceremony. The minister submitted the list of ministers to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and secretary general KC Venugopal.
Most third term MLAs are likely to be in the cabinet and the only exception would be the Shimla (Rural) MLA Vikramaditya Singhwho is the second timer.
The problem of room expansion has left Conference split in Himachal Pradesh, with a letter allegedly written by a senior leader to the president of the AICC in which it was alleged that during the formation of the department the names under discussion were not representative for the entire Congress party fought to the teeth against the BJP government.
According to sources, during his visit to Delhi, Sukhu was advised by the central leadership to give more representation to the scheduled caste MLAs in the Cabinet. In Himachal Pradesh, out of 68 council constituencies, 17 are reserved for Scheduled Actors. Compared to the four seats won by the National Assembly in the 2017 parliamentary elections, this time the party won 10 seats reserved for scheduled Party members.
A senior leader of the National Assembly, who asked to remain anonymous, said that while expanding the Cabinet, the party would have to provide adequate representation for all four parliamentary constituencies namely Shimla, Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangrain addition to activities on class and regional balance.
Most likely in the first phase, Jagat Singh Negi from Kinnaur from Mandi constituency, Dhani Ram Shandil, Rohit Thakur and Vikramaditya Singh from Shimla constituency and Chander Kumar from Kangra constituency will take an oath.
Sources have stated that no first-time MLA will be introduced even though MLAs like RS Bali from Kangra and Kuldeep Rathore from Shimla are lobbying to be introduced. The sources added that even second-time MLAs like Sunder Singh Thakur from Kullu, Ashish Butil from Palampur and Bhawani Pathania from Fatehpur will not be able to participate. In Shimla, out of 6 MLAs of Parliament, 5 are vying for cabinet positions and among them only Vikramaditya Singh and Rohit Thakur are likely to be introduced, while despite Sukhu’s willingness, the position of Kasumpti MLA Anirudh Singh, the third, is in doubt.
The suspense also continues towards the introduction of senior leaders such as Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala, former minister, and Rajender Rana, who defeated former prime minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2017.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Raj Bhavan in Shimla at 10am on Sunday. Rajender Governor Vishwanath Arlekar prepares to leave for Goa after the swearing-in ceremony. The minister submitted the list of ministers to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and secretary general KC Venugopal.
Most third term MLAs are likely to be in the cabinet and the only exception would be the Shimla (Rural) MLA Vikramaditya Singhwho is the second timer.
The problem of room expansion has left Conference split in Himachal Pradesh, with a letter allegedly written by a senior leader to the president of the AICC in which it was alleged that during the formation of the department the names under discussion were not representative for the entire Congress party fought to the teeth against the BJP government.
According to sources, during his visit to Delhi, Sukhu was advised by the central leadership to give more representation to the scheduled caste MLAs in the Cabinet. In Himachal Pradesh, out of 68 council constituencies, 17 are reserved for Scheduled Actors. Compared to the four seats won by the National Assembly in the 2017 parliamentary elections, this time the party won 10 seats reserved for scheduled Party members.
A senior leader of the National Assembly, who asked to remain anonymous, said that while expanding the Cabinet, the party would have to provide adequate representation for all four parliamentary constituencies namely Shimla, Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangrain addition to activities on class and regional balance.
Most likely in the first phase, Jagat Singh Negi from Kinnaur from Mandi constituency, Dhani Ram Shandil, Rohit Thakur and Vikramaditya Singh from Shimla constituency and Chander Kumar from Kangra constituency will take an oath.
Sources have stated that no first-time MLA will be introduced even though MLAs like RS Bali from Kangra and Kuldeep Rathore from Shimla are lobbying to be introduced. The sources added that even second-time MLAs like Sunder Singh Thakur from Kullu, Ashish Butil from Palampur and Bhawani Pathania from Fatehpur will not be able to participate. In Shimla, out of 6 MLAs of Parliament, 5 are vying for cabinet positions and among them only Vikramaditya Singh and Rohit Thakur are likely to be introduced, while despite Sukhu’s willingness, the position of Kasumpti MLA Anirudh Singh, the third, is in doubt.
The suspense also continues towards the introduction of senior leaders such as Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala, former minister, and Rajender Rana, who defeated former prime minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2017.
