For a change, two MLAs from Garhwal inducted into Cabinet

Neena Sharma

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 28

Chief Minister Harish Rawat expanded his Cabinet today by inducting Badrinath (Garhwal) MLA Rajinder Bhandari and Vikasnagar (Dehradun) MLA Nav Prabhat as ministers ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections.

Both the ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Krishna Kant Paul at a function held at Raj Bhavan.

The Chief Minister has tried to do the balancing act by picking Rajinder Bhandari whose elevation is expected to fill the vacuum created by the exodus of former MLAs Shaila Rani Rawat and Harak Singh Rawat in Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts, respectively.

Congress leaders from these districts were complaining of being neglected after the exit of these leaders.

On the other hand, the Chief Minister has rewarded MLA Nav Prabhat, who had lent both legal and moral support to him in the aftermath of political upheaval of March 18 and recently by presiding over the pending no-confidence motion against Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal.

Further, seniority seems to have played heavily on the mind of the Chief Minister as both Rajinder Bhandari and Nav Prabhat are second-time MLAs. They were also ministers in the previous governments heading important portfolios such as Department of Panchayati Raj and Department of Forests.

However, the portfolios of the two ministers would be announced in the next two days.

The two ministerial slots in Harish Rawat’s cabinet had been lying vacant for some time. While the one held by late Surendra Kumar Rakesh fell vacant in February last year following his death, the other fell vacant after former Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat revolted against his own government in March this year.

Now the strength of Harish Rawat’s Cabinet is 12, including him.

Biodata of Ministers

Nav Prabhat

DOB: October 9, 1956

Education: BCom, LLb (Lucknow University)

Political Career: Elected MLC in 1990 on a Congress ticket. In the first election to the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha in 2002, Nav Prabhat was elected from Vikasnagar. He was Forest Minister under former Chief Minister ND Tiwari between 2002 and 2007. He lost the elections in 2007 to BJP candidate Munna Singh Chauhan from Vikasnagar. He again lost the byelection to BJP candidate Kuldeep in 2009. Nav Prabhat made his come back again in 2012, but failed to find a place in the Cabinet of Vijay Bahuguna.

Rajinder Bhandari

DOB: November 19, 1964

Education: MA Political Science

Political career: Elected chairman of zila panchayat in 2002. He won the Nandprayag Assembly seat in 2007 as an independent candidate. He was made a Cabinet minister in the Khanduri Cabinet (Panchayati Raj). In the 2012 Assembly elections, he was elected from the Badrinath Assembly segment on a Congress ticket.