PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The decision of the Pushkar Singh Dhami government to appoint position holders on Tuesday has given a fresh hope to the aspirants about expansion of Pushkar Singh Dhami cabinet.
In a much awaited decision chief minister Dhami distributed responsibilities of key positions in councils, commissions and committees to senior leaders Harak Singh Negi, Aishwarya Rawat, Col ( retd) Ajay Kothiyal, Ganga Bisht, Shyam Agarwal, Shanti Mehra, BP Makwana, Hemraj Bisht, Ramchandra Gaur, PC Nailwal, Ramsundar Nautiyal, Sayara Bano, Renu Adhikari, Rajni Rawat, Om Prakash Jamdagni, Bhupesh Upadhyaya, Kuldeep Kumar, Rishi Kandwal, Virendra Dutt Semwal and Shyam Narayan Pandey on Tuesday.
It is likely that the CM will soon make appointments on some of the key positions such as chairperson of Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) and the State women commission.
The political observers opine that with the appointment of position holders the central leadership of BJP would also give a green signal to Dhami to expand and even reshuffle his team of ministers.
Three positions in the Dhami cabinet were vacant since March 2022 when CM took oath for the second consecutive time. The number of vacant seats in the Dhami cabinet increased to four after the death of Chandan Ram Das in April 2023. After the resignation of cabinet minister Premchand Aggarwal following protests in different parts of State over alleged use of foul language by him against the people of mountainous parts of the State, the number of vacancies in the cabinet increased to five.
It is believed that CM can reshuffle his team by removing a couple of controversial and non performing ministers.
The names of Vikasnagar MLA Munna Singh Chauhan, former state President Madan Kaushik, Dharampur MLA Vinod Chamoli, Devprayag MLA Vinod Kandari, Kedarnath MLA Asha Nautiyal, Bhimtal MLA Ram Singh Kaida, BHEL Ranipur MLA Adesh Chauhan, Kaladhungi MLA Bansidhar Bhagat and Didihat MLA Bishen Singh Chufal are making rounds as possible new faces in the Dhami cabinet.
The aspirants of a berth in Dhami cabinet are hoping that the CM can go for an expansion anytime during the auspicious occasion of Navratri.
