Shimla: Himachal Pradesh cabinet was expanded yesterday. 7 new ministers were sworn in at a ceremony held at the Governor’s House.
The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections were held on November 12. The election results were announced on December 8. Out of the total 68 constituencies, the Congress won 40 seats and came to power. BJP got 25 seats.
Senior Congress leader Sukhwinder Singh Sukku (58) was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh on December 11. Agni Hotri (60) took over as Deputy Chief Minister.
In this context, the Himachal Pradesh cabinet was expanded yesterday. In a ceremony held at the Governor’s House in Shimla, 7 ministers were sworn in namely Thaniram, Chandrakumar, Harshvardhan Chauhan, Jagat Singh Negi, Rohit Thakur, Anirudh Singh and Vikramaditya Singh. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered oath of office and secrecy to them.
Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukku, Deputy Chief Minister Agni Hotri and others attended the function.
Based on the number of Himachal Pradesh MLAs, 12 members can be included in the cabinet. At present there are 9 members in the cabinet namely Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Ministers. Members from 5 districts of Himachal Pradesh are not included in the cabinet. Therefore, Congress sources said that the cabinet will be further expanded to give opportunity to those districts as well.
Son of Veerabhadra Singh
Vikramaditya Singh, who has been sworn in as the new minister, is the son of late former Chief Minister Veerabhadra Singh. During the contest for the post of Chief Minister, there was a fierce competition between the current Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukku and Veerabhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh. Majority of MLAs supported Sukhwinder Singh Sukku and he was chosen as Chief Minister.
Following this, Agni Hotri, a staunch supporter of Pratibha Singh, was given the post of Deputy Chief Minister. Now Pratibha Singh’s son Vikramaditya Singh has been appointed as the minister.
