No representation from Haridwar, Nainital, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag & Champawat districts; 3 vacancies still in cabinet
Thursday, 24 March 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
In the selection of his cabinet ministers the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami tried to balance the regional and caste equations. In the cabinet five ministers, Satpal Maharaj (Chaubattakhal), Prem Chand Agarwal (Rishikesh), Ganesh Joshi (Mussoorie), Dhan Singh Rawat ( Srinagar) and Subodh Uniyal ( Narendranagar) are from Garhwal region while there are four ( including CM) who are from Kumaon region. From this region Rekha Arya ( Someshwar), Chandan Ram Das ( Bageshwar) and Saurabh Bahuguna ( Sitarganj) have been made ministers in team Dhami. In the cabinet there are three Rajputs (including CM), three Brahmins, two SCs and one member from Vaishya community. The Rajput ministers are Satpal Maharaj and Dhan Singh Rawat while Ganesh Joshi, Subodh Uniyal and Saurabh Bahuguna are Brahmin faces. Rekha Arya and Chandan Ram Das belong to SC while Prem Chand Agarwal is from Vaishya community.
Three ministers, Prem Chand Agarwal, Chandan Ram Das and Saurabh Bahuguna are first time ministers with Bahuguna being the youngest at 44 years of age. A district wise analysis shows that two ministers each are from Pauri (Satpal Maharaj and Dhan Singh Rawat) and Dehradun (Ganesh Joshi and Prem Chand Agarwal) districts while one minister each is from Tehri (Subodh Uniyal), Bageshwar (Chandan Ram Das) and Udham Singh Nagar (Saurabh Bahuguna). Interestingly Haridwar district which sends maximum (11) MLAs to the state assembly has remained unrepresented in the cabinet. In this district the BJP was able to win only three seats. Nainital, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Champawat are the other districts from where the cabinet has no representation.
