A week after being sworn in, Nishank distributes portfolios

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Dehradun: Putting to rest the speculations about who will be getting what ministry, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank has finally distributed the portfolios amongst his cabinet team. Nishank has kept major portfolios like home and finance with himself.

The distribution of portfolios came after more than a week of his swearing in as the new Chief Minister of the state after his predecessor BC Khanduri had resigned from the post in the wake of the Lok Sabha debacle. Nishank had been sworn in with three other ministers on June 27 and had gone in for a cabinet expansion on July 1.

Barring four new faces that he had inducted as Ministers of State (MoS), Nishank had retained the team led by Khanduri in the ministerial berths. According to sources, the last week was marked by squabbling amongst the cabinet members over getting plum portfolios.

Finalising the distribution of portfolios late on Sunday night, the Chief Minister has decided to keep Home, Personnel, Vigilance, Finance, Civil Aviation, Medical Health and nine other departments with himself.

Matbar Singh Kandari has been given Irrigation, Minor Irrigation, Social Welfare and Flood Control and Bishan Singh Chauphal has been allocated Forest, Transport, Cooperative, protocol along with two more departments.

Prakash Pant has been given retained as the minister of Parliamentary Affairs while the tourism portfolio held by him during Khanduri’s tenure has been taken away. He has also been given Labour and Planning ministries.

Diwakar Bhatt, the leader from BJP’s ally Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) has been given Food and Civil Supplies ministry again.

Madan Kaushik, who was earlier the education minister, has been given Excise and Taxation, Cane Development, Tourism and Urban Develoment ministries. Trivendra Singh Rawat will continue as the agriculture minister and will also be holding the charge of Agri Education, Agri Marketing, Dairy Development and Animal Husbandry.

Rajinder Singh Bhandari who is an independent supporting the BJP government has been given the charge of the Homeguards, Jails, Panchayati Raj and Census. He was earlier the sports minister.

MoS with independent charge Vijaya Bharthwal has been given Rural Development, Women and Child Welfare. Another MoS with independent charge, Govind Singh Bisht, has been allocated Primary and Middle Education.