Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will reshuffle his cabinet and induct four new ministers in September. He is awaiting approval from the BJP’s central leadership for his plan, which also includes dropping two current cabinet members.
Chief Minister Dhami informed The Statesman that a list of 10-12 BJP MLAs has been sent to the central leadership to select names for filling the four vacancies in his council of ministers. “A cabinet reshuffle is in the offing, and a list of probable names with the proposal has been sent to the central leadership for approval. Final clearance is awaited from the Centre” Dhami said.
Officials in the Chief Minister’s office (CMO) and top BJP leaders indicated that the reshuffle will involve the induction of four to six new faces and the removal of two current cabinet ministers. Notably, the two ministers, who have been involved in controversies that embarrassed the state government, are likely to be shown the doors. There have been repeated demands from the state BJP leaders for their removal, which have been communicated to the central leadership.
This is Chief Minister Dhami’s second attempt to reshuffle his council of ministers since resuming office following the assembly elections in March 2022. Earlier in 2023, Dhami tried to fill four vacant positions, but the effort was unsuccessful as Union Home Minister Amit Shah was not interested. Shah advised Dhami to continue with his existing dispensation.
The Uttarakhand cabinet currently has six ministers in addition to the Chief Minister. This leaves four vacancies, as the full strength of the state council of ministers allows for 11 members. If, as proposed, two current cabinet ministers are dropped, the maximum number of new cabinet members that can be inducted would be six.
When asked, Chief Minister Dhami confirmed that his cabinet rejig proposal, including all probable names, has been sent to the Centre. He also noted that, in addition to increasing the cabinet size, there would be a downsizing of the responsibilities of the two ministers being removed.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders close to Dhami claimed that recent heightened political activity in the state, including a series of meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state leaders, was not related to the performance of the Dhami government. Instead, they asserted that the meetings were consultations regarding the rising demand for a cabinet reshuffle.