PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
With the Vidhan Sabha elections 2027 in Uttarakhand less than 11 months away, the newly inducted ministers in the Pushkar Singh Dhami cabinet face the challenge of shortage of time to prove their mettle. Nearly four years after assuming charge of the chief minister of the State for second consecutive time, Pushkar Singh Dhami affected the much awaited expansion of his cabinet by inducting five ministers, Khajan Dass, Madan Kaushik, Bharat Singh Chaudhary, Pradip Batra and Ram Singh Kaida in his cabinet on Friday.
Among the newly inducted ministers, Bharat Singh Chaudhary, Pradeep Batra and Kaida have become ministers for the first time while veteran Madan Kaushik has become minister for the fourth time. He has experience of working under Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri and Trivendra Singh Rawat. Khajan Dass has worked as a minister under Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri.
After induction into the cabinet, the new ministers now have to get their act together quickly. The model code of conduct for the Vidhan Sabha elections in the State is expected to be enforced in December 2026 or January next year. In such a scenario, the new ministers have only 10 months to show their performance. In this short duration they will not only have to understand the departments headed by them but have to implement the departmental schemes by setting up coordination with the officials. The new ministers also face the challenge of fulfilling the aspirations of the electorate of their assembly constituency which have gone high after their induction into the cabinet. They will also have to strike a rapport with the party workers in different parts of the State and work in tandem with the party organization at a time when the Vidhan Sabha elections are not very far away.
When asked on the issue, cabinet minister Bharat Singh Chaudhary said that the time of 11 months is good enough. He said that the government has been working very efficiently for the last four years and we have to only take forward the works of the government.
