Uttarakhand cabinet expansion: The five MLAs who took oath as ministers

Dehradun, March 20 (IANS) Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Uttarakhand government expanded its cabinet on Friday, by inducting five new MLAs as ministers, reflecting a mix of seasoned and young faces. 

The oath of office was administered to newly inducted cabinet members by Uttarakhand Governor Gurmit Singh administered the oath of office

Those who saw elevation as cabinet ministers included Mandan Kaushik (Haridwar), Khajan Dass (Dehradun), Pradeep Batra (Roorkee), Ram Singh Kaira (Bhimtal) and Bharat Singh Chaudhary (Rudraprayag).

Madan Kaushik

Madan Kaushik is a party veteran and seasoned leader with decades of public service. He has been a senior office-bearer, having served the party in various roles. He is the erstwhile Uttarakhand BJP president and presently is a member of the party's National Executive Council. In a previous stint, he also served as a cabinet minister in the Uttarakhand government.

He began his political journey with student politics, traversed through the political landscape and rose to become a cabinet Minister in the Uttarakhand government.

Foraying into students' politics in 1985 and becoming college president, he was appointed as the BJP District General Secretary in 2000. Two years later, he was awarded a party ticket to contest from the Haridwar constituency. He debuted in the Legislative Assembly with a thumping victory. Since then, he has gone on to win the Haridwar seat in four subsequent elections.

With consecutive victories in 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2022, Madan Kaushik has a formidable record of winning elections.

Speaking to the media after becoming a cabinet minister, he said, “I am a party worker. I will do everything that is assigned to me. I have always strived to fulfil whatever role given to me -- either by the party or by the government.”

He also shared the government’s ambitious plan of organising a mega Kumbh Mela in the state.

Khajan Dass

Khajan Dass, elected from Rajpur Road constituency of Dehradun, is known for ‘principles politics’ and over the years has earned a reputation for calling a spade a spade, even if the issue pertains to his own BJP government.

Dass comes from the Scheduled Caste community and over the years, has not only emerged as a key face of the community but also built a reputation with constant endeavours in public service. He hogged the headlines, some time ago, when he opened front against his own government over slow and sluggish work pertaining to the ‘Dehradun as smart city’ project.

Pradeep Batra

Pradeep Batra, the legislator from Roorkee constituency, is a first-time entrant in the Dhami cabinet. He is a three-time legislator from Roorkee, having won twice on a Congress ticket in 2012 and 2017, and once as the BJP candidate (2022).

Having switched sides from Congress in 2022, Pradeep Batra got elected from the same constituency on the BJP ticket. This is his first stint with the Council of Ministers.

Batra, a native of Uttarakhand, also pursued his education in Roorkee Degree College and runs a family business that includes hotels and commercial businesses.

The other two ministers are Ram Singh Kaira, a legislator from Bhimtal constituency, and Bharat Singh Chaudhary, MLA from Rudraprayag seat. Both are beginning their first stint as cabinet ministers in the Dhami government.

Kaira first won the Bhimtal seat in 2017 as an Independent candidate and later joined the BJP in October 2021.

Dhami cabinet’s expansion, long overdue, is seen as a move by the ruling party to prepare itself for the upcoming 2027 Assembly elections. Political observers see this as a step to address regional as well as caste equations, considered crucial for the state's electoral landscape.

--IANS

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