Jai Ram in quarantine, HP cabinet rejig put off for a week

SHIMLA: : A day after the BJP announced Suresh Kashyap as the Himachal Pradesh unit chief, the much-awaited state cabinet reshuffle is on the cards with three berths vacant.

Thoughchiefministerjairam Thakur has got the go-ahead from the high command, he is in selfquarantine for a week after a deputy secretary in his office tested positive for Covid-19.

Thakur had sought party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda’s nod and discussed the reshuffle in detail with Himachal BJP in-charge and Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey.

Three cabinet berths fell vacant after then food and civil supplies minister Kishan Kapoor was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kangra, while power minister Anil Sharma quit after the Congress nominated his son Ashray Sharma from the Mandi parliamentary seat against BJP’S sitting Lok Sabha member Ram

Swaroop Sharma and health minister Bipin Singh Parmar was appointed speaker in place of Nahan legislator Rajeev Bindal who was named state unit chief in January.

CONTENDERS FOR CABINET

Nurpur legislator Rakesh Pathania is likely to be inducted into the cabinet. He was elected to the assembly as a BJP nominee in 1998 and re-elected as an independent in 2007 before becoming an MLA for the third time in December 2017. Pathania belongs to the Rajput community and has been vying for a cabinet berth since 2017.

Paonta Sahib MLA Sukhram Chaudhary, the leader from other backward classes from Sirmaur, is also likely to be inducted into the cabinet. Chaudhary was a junior engineer in the electricity board before joining politics and was elected to the Vidhan Sabha in 2003, 2007 and 2017. He was parliamentary secretary from 2009-12.

The CM is likely to give a place to Hans Raj, the legislator from Churah in Chamba, for the second term in his cabinet. Hans Raj is the deputy speaker of the Vidhan Sabha. Speculation is rife that Narender Thakur, the twotime legislator from Hamirpur, could replace Hans Raj as deputy speaker. He is the son of late BJP stalwart Jagdev Chand Thakur. Narender, however, does not enjoy a rapport with former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal and his son and Union minister Anurag Thakur. The names of senior BJP leader and former horticulture minister Narinder Bragta, Sarkaghat legislator Colonel Inder Singh, who is a three-time MLA, and Kailesh Kumari are also doing the rounds.

NURPUR LEGISLATOR RAKESH PATHANIA, PAONTA SAHIB MLA SUKHRAM CHAUDHARY LIKELY TO BE INDUCTED