Cabinet formation after Assembly session: Sukhu : The Tribune India

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, December 15

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said here today that the Cabinet would be formed in Himachal Pradesh after the Vidhan Sabha session is convened.

Vikramaditya will be inducted: CM

• Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in New Delhi on Thursday that Vikramaditya Singh, son of HPCC president Pratibha Singh, would be part of his council of ministers.
• He said, “Vikramaditya (Singh) will be in the Cabinet. Why won’t he be in the Cabinet? In the first meeting of the state Cabinet, we’ll fulfil the 10 promises we had made to people.”
• Earlier, Vikramaditya Singh, Shimla (Rural) MLA, had said he would shoulder whatever responsibility the party gives him. ANI

“The state Cabinet will be formed after the Vidhan Sabha session, which will be convened soon,” Sukhu said after paying a courtesy visit to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at the latter’s residence here. He was accompanied by Himachal Congress president Pratibha Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and all other Congress MLAs.

Meanwhile, hectic deliberations and lobbying is underway for Cabinet berths in the state. Himachal is the first state that the Congress has won since late 2018 when it had wrested Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan from the BJP.

Vikramaditya Singh, Shimla (Rural) MLA and a Cabinet berth hopeful, said that he would “discharge whatever role the party gives me. I am grateful to people for re-electing me”. He is expecting an important portfolio in the midst of a power struggle in Himachal. His mother and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh lost out the chief ministerial race to Sukhu.

Pratibha and her camp, however, have been assured of a fair share in the power pie of Himachal. Sources said that Kharge instructed the MLAs to stay united and work for people. He assured them that all groups would get an equitable share of power.

Kasumpti MLA Anirudh Singh said that Kharge advised all MLAs to share power with party workers and stay in touch with people. He added, “The Congress president asked us to stay connected and not forget that the party had been elected because of people’s support.”

Kharge is learnt to have asked the Chief Minister to fill 63,000 government vacancies on a war footing and hit the ground running on poll promises. The Congress would be closely watched on the poll promises, especially the old pension scheme, which helped it win the elections.

This was Sukhu’s first visit to the national capital since the party’s victory in the hill state. Meanwhile, he along with Agnihotri and other Congress MLAs left for Rajasthan this evening to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which completes 100 days tomorrow. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had invited all state leaders to join him in the yatra.