By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 21 Oct: The festival of Diwali brought not just lights and celebrations but also intense political activity in Uttarakhand, as Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a series of ‘meetings’ with former Chief Ministers and senior party leaders which became the talk of the state’s political corridors yesterday and today. His back-to-back courtesy calls, starting from 19 October and continuing through Diwali day, have set off widespread speculation about an imminent cabinet expansion in the state.
The CM first called upon former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and then followed it up by making a call on former CM Tirath Singh Rawat, followed by a visit to the residence of veteran leader and former Chief Minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri, where he enquired after the latter’s health. Subsequently, Dhami met former Congress Chief Minister Harish Rawat at his residence, a meeting that drew the maximum attention in political and media circles, given the long-standing political rivalry between the two leaders. It needs to be mentioned here that Dhami has been known to meet leaders and make courtesy calls on senior leaders irrespective of political affiliation on festive occasions and sources close to him said that nothing special needs to be contemplated from the recent courtesy calls.
Continuing his outreach, Dhami also met former Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, as well as former Chief Minister and his political mentor, Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Later, he also met Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, Ritu Khanduri.
After concluding his meetings with former Chief Ministers, Dhami held discussions with senior members of his government and the senior functionaries of Uttarakhand BJP. Among those he met were Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal and BJP State President Mahendra Bhatt. The CM later held a round of meetings with several BJP MLAs, including Munna Singh Chauhan, Vinod Kandari, and Khajan Das, all of whom called on him to extend Diwali greetings. Political observers have linked these special meetings to the much-discussed cabinet expansion expected to take place soon, which has been pending over the past three and half years when this government was formed.
According to sources within the state government, cabinet expansion in Uttarakhand has been under discussion for several months. With the demise of Cabinet Minister Chandan Ram Das and the resignation of Premchand Aggarwal, two cabinet berths have fallen vacant. Currently, important portfolios such as Industry (earlier held by Chandan Ram Das) and Finance and Housing (previously with Premchand Aggarwal) remain with the CM. The sanctioned strength of the Uttarakhand Council of Ministers allows for twelve members, including the CM, eight Cabinet Ministers, and three Ministers of State (Independent Charge).
While the CM has described his meetings as “courtesy calls” in his social media posts, political circles were quick to interpret them as part of a larger exercise in party and governance strategy ahead of the winter session of the Assembly. On X (formerly Twitter), Dhami shared photographs of his meetings, extending festive greetings and emphasising unity, teamwork, and development.
BJP leaders close to the CM also maintain that these visits were “purely festive in nature”, though several digital media reports and commentators suggested that Dhami’s outreach reflects his intent to strike a fine balance between experience and youth in the forthcoming cabinet reshuffle. A month before there was a buzz that the much awaited cabinet expansion was likely before Diwali but now Diwali is also over and no expansion happened.
