By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 25 Aug: Ever since Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami took over as CM for the second time after 2022 assembly polls, the state cabinet has had several vacancies which have not been filled up since. Not only this, the vacancies increased after the death of the then Cabinet Minister, Chandan Ram Das, and then the resignation of Prem Aggarwal from the cabinet earlier this year. There has been continuous speculation that the cabinet will be soon expanded but this never happened in past three years despite the BJP State Chief Mahendra Bhatt having dropped such hints before.
Now fresh speculation has been sparked and this time for a change, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami while speaking informally with the media persons hinted at a possible cabinet expansion soon. He stated that matter of cabinet expansion is being discussed with the Party High Command and a decision is likely to be taken soon.
Following this, it is being claimed that cabinet appears set for an expansion in the near future, with both Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt hinting at the possibility. This, as always, has reignited hopes and aspirations among many party MLAs aspiring to become ministers. However, certain seasoned MLAs are now preferring not to lobby for a ministerial berth.
At present, five vacancies exist in the state cabinet. Four of these have remained unfilled for a considerable period, while one arose following the resignation of former Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prem Chand Agarwal.
Some BJP legislators have been eagerly awaiting the filling of these posts, but despite several rounds of deliberations, no decision had been taken so far. According to party sources, during his recent visit to New Delhi, Chief Minister Dhami held discussions with the top leadership on the issue of cabinet expansion. With the nod from the central leadership believed to have been secured, a decision in this regard is expected shortly.
Both Dhami and Bhatt hinted late last evening that the expansion could take place soon. Dhami remarked that discussions with the high command were underway on the subject. Bhatt stated that efforts to fill the vacant cabinet posts had been continuing for a long time and expressed confidence that the process would be completed without much delay.
Speculation within party circles is rife regarding the likely names for ministerial berths. Dhami reiterated that the BJP is a party that functions on the basis of democratic values and decisions are taken in accordance with the directives of the central leadership. He added that once the final instructions are received, the cabinet expansion in Uttarakhand will be carried out at the earliest.
