Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is facing intense pressure currently for expanding the state cabinet as three cabinet berths are still lying vacant. The Cabinet expansion is also necessitated as the Chief Minister TS Rawat currently holds 42 portfolios including Finance, Excise, PWD, Home, and Rural Development.
It should be noted that only 9 ministers took oath in 2017 along with Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, leaving 2 berths vacant in the state vacant. However, after the death of Finance Minister Prakash Pant last month, vacancy in the cabinet increased to three.
Sources close to Uttarakhand Chief Minister claimed that Chief Minister TS Rawat is expected to take a call on this soon and it is a prerogative of the Chief Minister to expand his cabinet.
If the state cabinet happens, Uttarakhand will have a new Finance Minister. Among the frontrunners for the post is BJP Senior Leader Munna Singh Chauhan, an MLA from Vikasnagar constituency in Dehradun.
While many state leaders also claimed that Chauhan has a good chance of getting a berth in TS Rawat’s Cabinet.
While many other MLAs including Former state BJP President Bishan Singh Chufal, and Harbans Kapoor are also very senior BJP leaders who are among top contenders for the cabinet berth. Kapoor is a former Speaker and MLA from Dehradun Cantt Assembly Constituency.
However, Chief Minister TS Rawat has till now maintained a silence over the issue of expansion. While BJP President Ajay Bhatt said that the expansion is likely to take place soon. Many of the other top leaders of the party also claimed that Cabinet expansion is on cards.
Earlier, Chief Minister in an interim move, during the three-day brief session of the Vidhan Sabha last week, had given the portfolio of Parliamentary Affairs to state Rural Development Minister Madan Kaushik.
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