Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhu keeps home, finance, personnel, general administration

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Amid hectic lobbying for cabinet berths in Himachal Pradesh, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has kept the finance, general administration, home, planning and personnel portfolios with himself, according to an official notification.

Also read: Gokul Butail appointed IT adviser, Naresh Chauhan media adviser in Himachal

He has allocated jal shakti, transport, and language, arts and culture departments to his deputy, Mukesh Agnihotri.

All other portfolios that have not been allotted to any minister will be with Sukhu, the notification issued on Tuesday night said.

BALANCING ACT

Sukhu and all other Congress MLAs are to join party leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra at Alwar in Rajasthan on Friday, which marks 100 days of the march. This is expected to delay the expansion of the state’s new cabinet.

Sukhu had on Monday said the cabinet would be expanded in consultation with the Congress high command and it would be a mix of professionals, youth and representatives from all sections. However, it will be a challenge to strike a balance between regions, castes and factions.

Sukhu will be flying to New Delhi to hold consultations with central party leaders. All India Congress Committee in charge for Himachal Rajiv Shukla has been given the task to ensure balanced representation in the cabinet.

The Congress won 40 of the 68 assembly seats, including 10 in Kangra, seven in Shimla, four each in Una, Solan, and Hamirpur, three in Sirmaur, two each in Chamba and Kullu, and one each in Mandi, Bilaspur, Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti district.

CLAIMS AND CHALLENGES

While those who were ministers when the Congress was in power in the state last time round are asserting their rights, a large number of second and third-time MLAs too are aspiring for a ministerial berth.

Shillai legislator Harshwardhan Chauhan is a six-time legislator, and Chander Kumar, 78, also a six-time MLA belongs to the other backward classes.

Jagat Singh Negi won Kinnaur for the fourth time and is a contender for a cabinet berth. Rohit Thakur, the grandson of former chief minister Ram Lal Thakur, is a senior MLA in Shimla district. He won from his traditional Jubal Kotkhai seat for the fourth time.

State Congress president Pratibha Singh is pushing for the inclusion of four-time Rampur Bushahr MLA Nand Lal and her son Vikramaditya Singh.

Former minister Sudhir Sharma (Jawali), Sunder Singh Thakur (Kullu), Kuldeep Pathania (Bhatiyyat), Rajesh Dharmani (Ghumarwin), Chandrashekhar (Dharampur), the lone Congress MLA from Mandi district, Ashish Butail (Palampur), a prominent figure in the business community, and among first-timers, Raghubir Singh Bali, the son of former minister GS Bali (Nagrota Bagwan), are also eyeing a cabinet berth. Anirudh Singh, who defeated sitting urban development minister Suresh Bhardwaj, three-time Rohru MLA Mohan Lal Brakta, and former state Congress president Kuldeep Rathore are in the race, too.


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