Himachal Pradesh Cabinet to be formed after assembly session: CM

New Delhi: The new Cabinet in Himachal Pradesh will be formed after the first Assembly session is over, said Himachal Pradesh’s new chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. He along with his newly-elected MLAs met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in the national capital.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Sukhu said: “We had come to thank party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. All 40 of our MLAs and our state chief have also come. He gave us the mantra to serve the people. He also thanked the people of the state.”

The CM added: “There is no challenge at all in Cabinet formation. A Cabinet is formed with the elected MLAs, the CM is elected from the MLAs. So, there is no challenge at all.” AICC Himachal in-charge Rajeev Shukla and PCC chief Pratibha Singh were present at the meeting. She is a sitting Lok Sabha MP and was also a contender for the chief ministership. She is the widow of ex-CM Virbhadra Singh.

Mr Sukhu also met AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and organisational in-charge K.C. Venugopal.

The new chief minister has to do some clever footwork in Cabinet formation to keep all sections of the party happy. At the moment home and finance are with the CM. Transport, culture, Jal Shakti was given to deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri. He also had long meetings with Mr Rajeev Shukla to prepare a blueprint for the Cabinet, which will be approved by the party president.

Pratibha Singh’s son Vikramaditya Singh, an MLA, was expected to become deputy chief minister, but that did not happen. Mr Sukhu has denied any fissures and claims he and the party leadership will take all MLAs along.

The MLAs and the Himachal CM are on the way to Rajasthan. They will be joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra on Friday. The CM is expected to return to Delhi over the weekend to have extensive consultations with the leadership so that a final Cabinet list can be prepared.