 "Rawat's move to keep Congress flock together")
A day before the election results, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Thursday hurriedly bestowed the posts of parliamentary secretary to seven ruling Congress MLAs, apparently to keep the party flock together.
All the seven MLAs – Umesh Sharma “Kau”, Raj Kumar, Sarita Arya, Shailarani Rawat, Vikram Singh Negi, Jeet Ram and Madan Bisht belong to the Vijay Bahuguna camp, who had also strongly opposed the change of guard early this year.
“We have given the status of parliamentary secretaries to 7 party MLAs. I am hopeful that these MLAs will give further flip to the development process in the state,” said Rawat after swearing-in ceremony at the secretariat here.
The move to upgrade the status of MLAs came amid threat perception that is looming on the Congress-led coalition government from the BJP.
Several BJP leaders had been stating openly that the Rawat government would fall after the election results. “I think they are trying to save the government before the collapse begins,” said BJP leader and former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
Significantly, the Congress is sharing power with the seven-member Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), an alliance of seven MLAs, who are mostly independent.
However, the suspense has also mounted amid reports that state tourism Amrita Rawat, wife of BJP leader Satpal Maharaj, may be dropped in a cabinet reshuffle after the tomorrow’s results.
“The cabinet reshuffle will depend upon the performance of the ministers,” said the Chief Minister.
Amrita is said to be sulking after not getting horticulture and power portfolios for which she had allegedly lobbied earlier. Moreover, Amrita’s husband Maharaj had chosen to join BJP giving rise to speculation that his wife will not feel at ease with Rawat, a bitter political adversary of Maharaj.
All the seven MLAs – Umesh Sharma “Kau”, Raj Kumar, Sarita Arya, Shailarani Rawat, Vikram Singh Negi, Jeet Ram and Madan Bisht belong to the Vijay Bahuguna camp, who had also strongly opposed the change of guard early this year.
“We have given the status of parliamentary secretaries to 7 party MLAs. I am hopeful that these MLAs will give further flip to the development process in the state,” said Rawat after swearing-in ceremony at the secretariat here.
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Several BJP leaders had been stating openly that the Rawat government would fall after the election results. “I think they are trying to save the government before the collapse begins,” said BJP leader and former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
Significantly, the Congress is sharing power with the seven-member Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), an alliance of seven MLAs, who are mostly independent.
However, the suspense has also mounted amid reports that state tourism Amrita Rawat, wife of BJP leader Satpal Maharaj, may be dropped in a cabinet reshuffle after the tomorrow’s results.
“The cabinet reshuffle will depend upon the performance of the ministers,” said the Chief Minister.
Amrita is said to be sulking after not getting horticulture and power portfolios for which she had allegedly lobbied earlier. Moreover, Amrita’s husband Maharaj had chosen to join BJP giving rise to speculation that his wife will not feel at ease with Rawat, a bitter political adversary of Maharaj.