Uttarakhand cabinet expansion: Five MLAs take oath as ministers in Dhami govt

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inducted five new ministers in the state cabinet on Friday, taking the total figure to 12. The legislators who will now serve as ministers in Dhami's cabinet are Bharat Singh Chaudhary (Rudraprayag), Khajan Dass (Dehradun), Mandan Kaushik (Haridwar), Pradeep Batra (Roorkee) and Ram Singh Kaira (Bhimtal).

Madan Kaushik is a member of the BJP National Executive Council and was the Uttarakhand BJP president.

Khajan Dass, a former minister in the erstwhile Uttarakhand government, also served as the state BJP vice-president earlier.

The remaining three -- Ram Singh Kaira, Bharat Singh Chaudhary and Pradeep Batra are reportedly first-time ministers.

The oath of office was administered by Uttarakhand Governor Gurmit Singh at Lok Bhavan at 10 a.m.

With the induction of five new ministers, the Uttarakhand cabinet has attained its maximum strength of 12, officials said.