Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s cabinet expanded on Friday, with five leaders taking the oath of office in Dehradun. The swearing-in ceremony for the new ministers was scheduled at the Raj Bhawan at 10 am.
BJP MLAs Khajan Das (Dehradun), Madan Kaushik (Haridwar), Pradeep Batra (Roorkee), Bharat Chaudhary (Rudraprayag), and Ram Singh Kaida (Nainital), took oath at the Raj Bhawan today.
Vacancies In Cabinet
The expansion comes amid five vacant positions in the council of ministers. When the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power for a second consecutive term in 2022, nine ministers, including the chief minister, were sworn in.
The number of ministers declined over time due to a death and a resignation.
Following the demise of Social Welfare and Transport Minister Chandan Ram Das in April 2023, the cabinet strength reduced to eight. It further dropped to seven after Parliamentary Affairs and Finance Minister Prem Chand Agarwal stepped down last year amid a controversy.
As per constitutional provisions, the Uttarakhand cabinet can have a maximum strength of 12 members.
In recent years, discussions around a cabinet expansion had surfaced multiple times in the state, but no concrete action followed.
