Key Takeaways
- The Two more council of ministers will be added to the Himachal Pradesh cabinet, raising the count to eleven.
- Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri are overseeing the expansion to address regional representation.
- The addition aims to give the large Kangra district greater voice, balancing the current ministerial distribution across districts.
Shimla: Two more council of ministers would be inducted in the nine members of cabinet of one year Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government.
According to sources, the governor is out of state, and if he returns today, the expansion is likely to be held after 1430 hrs on Tuesday.
Among those who are shortlisted are members of the legislative assembly from Ghumerwin of Bilaspur district, Rajesh Dharmani, who is four times a member of the assembly.
Another member would be Yadvinder Goma from Jaisinghpur, Kangra.
Dharmani would arrive Shimla and Goma was also called by the Chief Minister to attend Cabinet expansion.
The state general administration is already preparing for the oath, which might be held around 1430 hrs.
Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Partap Shukla reported to be in New Delhi, likely to be returned by the afternoon.
Currently, including Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, there are nine ministers in the state cabinet, and expansion has been on the agenda for the last year.
The state could induct three more ministers into the 68‑member legislature, as the number of ministers couldn’t exceed 12.
Currently, there is an imbalance in the COMs as the minister is in the state government from Mandi, Kullu, and Lahaul Spiti districts, and out of ten MLAs from the biggest Kangra district, there is only one cabinet minister.
Among the current members of the COM are three ministers from Shimla, including Rohit Thakur from Jubbal and Kotkhai, Vikramaditya Singh from Rural Shimla, and Anirudh Singh from Kasumpti. Dr Dhani Ram Shandil from Solan, Harshvardhan Chauhan from Sirmour, Jagat Singh Negi from Kinnaur, and Chander Kumar from Kangra. Kuldeep Singh Pathania is a speaker from Chamba district.
Three seats on the Council of Ministers have been vacant for the past year. Sukhu was given the green signal for cabinet expansion recently during the completion of the one-year celebration.
