Swearing in today, speculation rife on new faces in state cabinet
Political analysts say Dhami will have to walk tight rope while selecting his new council of ministers
DEHRADUN : With swearing in ceremony of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his cabinet to be held on Wednesday, speculation is rife that there will be new faces in the council of ministers.
A senior BJP leader, wishing not to named, said, “Some new faces will be there in the cabinet. There will be reshuffle. We also have to ensure that some senior leaders work for the party and strengthen it,” the leader said.
Political analysts said Dhami will have to walk a tight rope while selecting his new council of ministers. Many MLAs also met Dhami in Dehradun on Tuesday and congratulated him. It is also being seen as lobbying on their part to secure a place in the cabinet.
Political analyst MM Semwal, who teaches political science at Garhwal university, said there can be maximum 11 ministers in Uttarakhand. “From the last cabinet, two cabinet ministers - Yashpal Arya and Harak Singh Rawat -switched over to the Congress while Swami Yatishwaranand lost election from Haridwar Rural seat.
“So, new faces are expected in their place. Besides, the party will give representation to women also. Dhami, who is known as a CM with youth connect, might bring some young faces into the cabinet. Madan
Kaushik may be brought back into the government and some senior MLA or former minister may be asked to work for the party,” he said.
SMA Kazmi, Dehradunbased political commentor, said as Dhami hails from Kumaon, the new BJP will have to strive a balance in both cabinet and party structure between Kumoan and Garhwal regions and on the BrahminThakur axis in the state.
“This is going to be challenging as they don’t have much space in the 11-member council of minister. They can bring only a few new faces as they can’t ignore veteran politicians like Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat, who have been cabinet ministers in previous government and some of them even were aspiring for the CM post. Now if they are not even given place in cabinet, that could lead create problems for the party in the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, preparations are on for swearing in ceremony at Parade Ground in Dehradun.
Devendra Bhasin, BJP state vice president, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, BJP chief JP Nadda and chief ministers of BJP ruled states will attend the ceremony. “People from various sections of the society and categories have been invited ranging from prominent people from various domains, intellectuals, artists, industrialists, saints, party workers and so on. We are expecting up to 25,000 people will participate in the swearing in ceremony”, he said.
Manveer Singh Chauhan, state BJP media in charge, said the party has made full preparations for the swearing in ceremony.
“Workers from all the districts of the state will participate in the function. The district heads have been asked to give a list of the workers participating in the ceremony. Besides we have also invited prominent social workers, writers, saints, religious leaders in the ceremony. This is going to be grand and memorable event”, he said.
The BJP won 47 seats while the Congress 19 in the 70-member state assembly.
HARIDWAR: The state has witnessed the highest tourist rush in the Holi weekend after over two years, brining cheers among traders, hoteliers and priests.
In the last weekend, lakhs of pilgrims and tourists arrived in Haridwar, Rishikesh and hill stations such as Mussoorie, Dhanaulti, Tehri, Narendranagar, Pauri, Khirshu, Uttarkashi.
National highways NH-58 (Badrinath Mana-Gaziabad) and NH-72 (Ambala-Dehradun-Nepali Farm) near Haridwar witnessed traffic congestion due to huge footfall of visitors.
Hotel Association of Haridwar president Ashutosh Sharma said after two years, such a rush is visible during the Holi weekend.
“Almost everywhere pilgrims and tourists are being seen since Friday evening. Due to no restrictions on interstate border and ease in movement pilgrims and tourists have arrived in a large number from across the country. This bodes well for the Char Dham pilgrimage season on which traders of Haridwar, Rishikesh belt heavily depend on for their livelihood,” said Sharma.
He also said approximately 90% hotels were fully booked and occupied during the weekend, which was not seen even during the Mahakumbh fair last year owing to the second wave of Covid-19.
“Arrival of tourists in huge number resulted in full occupancy of Dharamshalas in Haridwar. We are now looking ahead to Char Dham pilgrimage,” said Rashtriya Dharamshala Suraksha Samiti general secretary Vikas Tiwari.
Thousands of pilgrims attended Ganga aarti in Har-kiPauri.