Former CM’s son and another ex-CM’s grandson among 7 inducted in Himachal Cabinet

Shimla: Almost a month after taking oath, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu inducted seven ministers in his cabinet on Sunday leaving three vacancies to be filled up later.

Seven ministers included six-time MLAs Chander Kumar,78, and Harshvardhan Chauhan,58, besides 33-year-old Vikramaditya Singh, son of the state’s former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Rohit Thakur,48, grandson of former Chief Minister Thakur Ram Lal has also got a Cabinet berth.

The swearing in ceremony was held at Raj Bhawan where Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajinder Vishavnath Arhlekar administered oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers.

PCC president Pratibha Singh and Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania attended the ceremony while Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri were also present.

Two-time former minister and member of Assembly Col (Rtd) Dhani Ram Shandil from Solan, former Deputy Speaker and MLA from Kinnaur Jagat Singh Negi and three time MLA from Kasumpti Anirudh Singh also figure among the new ministers.

The biggest district, Kangra, which elected 10 Congress MLAs out of 15 seats, got just one minister reflecting a regional imbalance in representation while Shimla,  where the Congress has won seven out of eight seats got three cabinet ministers– Rohit Thakur, Anirudh Singh and Vikramaditya Singh.

There was no minister inducted from Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Mandi and Kullu districts.

Mandi is also a parliamentary constituency of Pratibha Singh but the Congress could win only one seat of total 10 in Mandi district.

However, to strike a balance of power in the Congress party, the Chief Minister appointed six chief parliamentary secretaries, two of them from Kangra.

The Chief Minister administered oath to his Chief parliamentary secretaries before cabinet ministers at the state secretariat.

They included Ram Kumar and Sanjay Awasthi from Solan district ,Mohan Lal Bragta from Shimla, Sunder Singh Thakur from Kullu, Kishorilal and Ashish Butail from Kangra district.

Those who were left out included former minister Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala (Kangra), Rajesh Dharmani (Ghumarwin) and R S Bali, a first-time MLA elected from Nagrota Bhagwan (Kangra).

Former PCC president Kuldeep Rathore and Rajendra Rana, Congress MLA who had defeated BJP’s Chief Ministerial face Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2017 at Sujanpur had lobbied hard but could not get berths in the cabinet.

The Chief Minister said later after the swearing in ceremony ” I will try to fill up all the vacancies in the cabinet very soon so that there is a proper balance of power in the new government”.

Yet many believe some of the sulking MLAs, who owe allegiance either to Pratibha Singh, Virbhadra Singh’s wife or Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri could make the going tough for the Chief Minister .

Pratibha Singh had been a contender for the Chief Minister’s post whose claim was turned down by the high command as Sukhu commanding support of majority MLAs was chosen as Chief Minister to lead the new government.

Before the cabinet formation Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had insisted that the Sukhu cabinet must have three Dalit ministers instead of only one. This portfolio has been given to  Col (reitred) Dhani Ram Shandil from the Dalit community.

Now, Mohan Lal Brakta and Kishori Lal have also been given representation as chief parliamentary secretaries.