As soon as Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned from Uttarkashi tour on Thursday afternoon, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also left for Delhi after some time. This Delhi visit of the Chief Minister is being linked to the exercise of cabinet expansion and reshuffle. There is a discussion in political circles that apart from filling the four vacant places in the cabinet, some ministers can also be changed. BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt has recently said that cabinet expansion is possible soon. Political developments in Uttarakhand have turned rapidly after the budget session of the Legislative Assembly concluded last month. However, discussions of cabinet expansion have been going on for a long time. There is also a reason for this. In Uttarakhand, the size of the cabinet including the Chief Minister can be a maximum of 12 members. In the year 2022, when Pushkar Singh Dhami took over as Chief Minister for the second consecutive time, three ministerial posts were kept vacant at that time. Later, one more place became vacant due to the death of Cabinet Minister Chandan Ram Das. That is, at present there are a total of seven ministers apart from the Chief Minister. Despite discussions several times, the cabinet expansion has been postponed due to various reasons. Meanwhile, in the recent budget session, when the name of Cabinet Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal was linked to a controversy, the political atmosphere heated up.
After this, discussions about the replacement of some ministers along with the cabinet expansion gained momentum. It is being said that two to four ministers can be changed. If this happens, then in this situation six to eight new faces can get an opportunity in the cabinet.
Sources associated with the BJP are also claiming that instead of filling all the vacant posts, the Chief Minister can still leave at least two places vacant. Apart from this, it is believed that the departments of many ministers can be changed.
If this political development takes shape, then some of those districts can also get representation in the cabinet, which are currently deprived of this approach.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami himself is an MLA from Champawat, while two ministers from Pauri Garhwal district, Satpal Maharaj and Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat, are part of Dhami’s team. There are also two ministers from Dehradun district, Prem Chand Aggarwal and Ganesh Joshi, while Subodh Uniyal from Tehri, Rekha Arya from Almora district and Saurabh Bahuguna from Udham Singh Nagar district are part of the cabinet.
This means that there are no ministers from Haridwar, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Nainital, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi districts. On Thursday, the Prime Minister came on a tour of Uttarkashi district.
After seeing him off to Delhi from Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun in the afternoon, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also left for Delhi. Although the reason for the Chief Minister’s visit to Delhi was said to be a meeting with some Union Ministers, sources say that discussions with the central leadership regarding cabinet expansion and reshuffle are its real purpose.
