Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expanded his cabinet on Friday. Five MLAs took oath as ministers at Lok Bhawan. The five new ministers—Khajan Das, Bharat Singh Chaudhary, Madan Kaushik, Pradeep Batra and Ram Singh Kaida—were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Lieutenant General Gurmeet Singh (retd) during a ceremony at Lok Bhawan. With the induction of new ministers, there are now 12 people in the Uttarakhand cabinet.
Khajan Das is MLA from Rajpur Road assembly constituency in Dehradun, Bharat Singh Chaudhary from Rudraprayag, Madan Kaushik from Haridwar, Pradeep Batra from Roorkee and Ram Singh Kaida from Bhimtal. Chaudhary, Batra and Kaida have become ministers for the first time, while Das and Kaushik have become ministers earlier also. Dhami Have been in the cabinet.
The purpose of the cabinet expansion is to balance the representation between Garhwal and Kumaon regions as well as the plains and hilly areas. This step is being considered important before the state assembly elections to be held next year. Congratulating the new ministers, the Chief Minister said that the team will work together for the development of the state and service to the people.
Dhami said that we all will work in the spirit of teamwork and will be dedicated to serving the people of the state. Apart from Dhami, his cabinet colleagues and other senior people were also present at the swearing-in ceremony.
This expansion has happened at a time when five posts were vacant in the Council of Ministers. When the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power for the second consecutive time in 2022, nine ministers including the Chief Minister took oath. The number of ministers decreased with time due to one death and one resignation.
After the demise of Social Welfare and Transport Minister Chandan Ram Das in April 2023, the cabinet strength was reduced to eight. Last year, it further dropped to seven after Parliamentary Affairs and Finance Minister Prem Chand Agarwal stepped down amid a controversy. According to constitutional rules, the Uttarakhand cabinet can have a maximum of 12 members.
In recent years, cabinet expansion has been discussed several times in the state, but no concrete action has been taken. Earlier, Chief Minister Dhami and Uttarakhand BJP President Mahendra Bhatt had indicated that there is going to be a cabinet reshuffle.
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