Himachal Portfolios: CM Sukhu Keeps Finance And Home, Vikramaditya Singh Gets Public Works

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has allocated various departments to his ministers. See the full list here.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday allocated various departments among his ministers.  ( Image Source :PTI )

Three days after expanding his Cabinet, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday allocated various departments among his ministers. 

Sukhu retained Finance, Home, General Administration, Planning, Personnel, and other unassigned departments, while the highly coveted departments of Industries and Public Works and Development were given to six-term MLA Harshwardhan Chauhan and two-term MLA Vikramaditya Singh, respectively. 

The departments of Jal Shakti, Transport, Language, Art, and Culture were already under Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri. Here are the other portfolios held by ministers in the Sukhu Cabinet:

• Dhani Ram Shandil (Health and Family Welfare, Social Justice and Empowerment and Labour and Employment)
• Chander Kumar (Agriculture, Animal Husbandry)
• Harshwardhan Chauhan (Industries, Parliamentary Affairs, Ayush)
• Anirudh Singh (Rural Development, Panchayati Raj)
• Vikramaditya Singh (Public Works, Youth Services and Sports) 
• Jagat Singh Negi (Revenue, Horticulture and Tribal Development)
• Rohit Thakur (Higher Education, Elementary Education and Technical Education)

Former chief minister Virbhadhra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh and eldest MLA Dhani Ram Shandil are among the seven new legislators set to be inducted into the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet. Sandil (82) defeated his son-in-law in the Solan assembly seat, while Vikramaditya was elected from Shimla Rural.

The total number of ministers, including the chief minister and deputy chief minister, in Himachal Pradesh cannot exceed 12. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was made the Chief Minister of the hill state after Congress won the state legislative polls by winning 40 of the 68 assembly seats.

Sukhu, who has kept the finance portfolio, will have an uphill task of setting the finances of the state in order. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said Himachal Pradesh is in a "financial mess" due to the "extravagant" spending by the previous BJP government that took loans to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore and the cabinet will decide whether to bring out a white paper on the state's financial status.