Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami finally went ahead and expanded his cabinet. Five new MLAs got vow in as ministers this morning, and just like that, the cabinet’s bumped up to its full brawn—12 members, including the CM himself. No more empty chairs around the table.
Picture this: ceremony at Lok Bhavan around 10 o’clock, Governor Gurmeet Singh doing the honours, CM Dhami standing right there watching. The new ministers who took oath? Solid bunch—Khazan Das from Rajpur Road in Dehradun, Bharat Singh Chaudhary from Rudraprayag up in the hills, Madan Kaushik who’s from Haridwar, Pradeep Batra representing Roorkee, and Ram Singh Kaida from Bhimtal in Nainital district. Three of them—Chaudhary, Batra, and Kaida—are getting their first shot at being ministers, while Das and Kaushik have done this before, so they’ve got that know-how.
The cabinet wasn’t always this small. Back when Pushkar Singh Dhami set about his second term in 2022, he had eight ministers plus himself—nine entire. One minister, Chandan Ramdas, passed away a couple years back, another resigned, so it diminished down to just seven including the CM. That’s tough—running a whole state with fewer hands on deck, especially in a place like Uttarakhand where you’ve got mountains, rivers, tourism, disasters, all needing attention.
So today’s move? Feels like the right time. With elections unmoving a bit away in 2027, this brings balance—some from the plains like Dehradun, Haridwar, Roorkee; others from the hills like Rudraprayag and Bhimtal. Garhwal-Kumaon divide gets a little smoother, representation spreads out. More voices mean better ideas for roads, jobs, keeping young people from migrating out, handling those heavy monsoons or winters. It’s practical stuff that actually touches people’s lives.
Portfolios? Not out yet—probably drop tomorrow or day after. Once we know who’s handling what, we’ll see how Dhami’s shuffling the pack to give things a fresh push.
Politics apart, a full team of 12 just feels more stable, more ready to gear whatever comes. Uttarakhand’s beautiful, but it’s got real challenges—tourism needs boosting, hills need better connectivity, plains need development without misplace their soul. This bigger cabinet should help get things moving faster.
We’ll keep our eyes peeled for those portfolio announcements and any reactions from the opposition or locals. For now, though—good on the CM for filling those gaps. Uttarakhand’s government just got a bit stronger today.
That’s the update from up north.
Sources:
- The Hindu
- The Economic Times
- Hindustan Times, Business Standard, India TV News, ANI, News18
- Tribune India & additional PTI
