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Speculation rife over cabinet expansion in Uttarakhand

With many names making the round, many hopefuls are anxiously waiting for the return of CM from the national capital.

Speculation rife over cabinet expansion in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday, January 18, 2020. (SNS)

The New Delhi trip of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, on Saturday, has again fueled speculation about cabinet expansion in the hill state. With many names making the round, many hopefuls are anxiously waiting for the return of CM from the national capital. Three cabinet berths are presently vacant and the list of hopefuls is long.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers in New Delhi on Saturday. Many optimist leaders are presently camping in Dehradun and are confidently interacting with the media by claiming, “I will stand by the party decision and accept whatever responsibility my party provides me.”

When the Trivendra Rawat government took office in 2017, the cabinet consisted of eight ministers and two state ministers. Two cabinet/state minister posts remained vacant and after the sudden death of state finance minister Prakash Pant, it got extended to three.

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After BJP scored a thumping win in the 2017 state assembly elections, many big names of the party failed to find a place in the cabinet. BJP fulfilled the promise made to Congress leaders, who had staged a revolt against Harish Rawat and later joined the saffron brigade, to accommodate them in the cabinet. Presently Yashpal Arya, Subodh Uniyal, Rekha Arya (state minister-independent charge), Satpal Maharaj and Harak Singh Rawat, all former Congressmen, are in the Trivendra Rawat cabinet.

Leaders like Munna Singh Chauhan, Harbans Kapoor, Pushkar Dhami, Bishan Singh Chufal, Khajan Dass, etc are waiting for the good news. They are hopeful this time as many party leaders were provided minister-level posts and many others were nominated as corporation/commission members recently.

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