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Journalism of Courage
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank expanded his Cabinet on Wednesday. All the ministers who have been given Cabinet rank were part of his predecessor B C Khanduris Cabinet.
Independent MLA from Nand Prayag Rajendra Singh Bhandari and BJPs alliance partner Uttarakhand Kranti Dals Divakar Bhatt are two of the Cabinet ministers sworn in by the Governor at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday.
The new faces inducted as Ministers of State with Independent charge are Yamkeshwar MLA Vijaya Barthwal and Dhari MLA Govind Singh Bisht. Dhanaulti MLA Khajan Das and Kanda MLA Balwant Singh Bhauryal have been inducted as Ministers of State and are also new faces.
Ajay Tamta,Beena Mahrana and Bansidhar Bhagat,who were part of Khanduris Cabinet,did not find a place in Nishanks team. Having been elevated from the rank of Minister of State to that of a Cabinet minister in Khanduris team,Tamta was fielded as a Lok Sabha candidate from the Almora constituency by the BJP where he lost to the Congress Pradeep Tamta.
Earlier,Madan Kaushik,Bishen Singh Chauphal and Matbar Singh Kandari had taken the oath as Cabinet ministers along with Nishank on Saturday. In his team of 12,four ministers represent various segments in Kumaon region while the remaining are from Garhwal barring Kaushik who is from the Terai belt in the state. After the oath-taking ceremony,Nishank said,I am confident that my team will work for development and will deliver results for Mission 2012 (Assembly polls).
By taking Prakash Pant as a Cabinet minister,Nishank has laid to rest speculation about the move to make him the Speaker. Pant was also in the race for becoming the Chief Minister. While Nishank had the backing of Khanduri and his subordinates,Pant was said to be the choice of the camp led by former chief minister and Khanduris arch rival Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
