Himachal Cabinet expansion: Seven ministers take oath

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh cabinet headed by Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was expanded on Sunday with the induction of seven ministers, taking the total strength to nine. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath to the newly inducted ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhawan.

The newly inducted ministers include eldest MLA Dhani Ram Shandil from Solan, Chander Kumar from Jawali in Kangra district, Harshwardhan Chauhan from Shillai in Sirmaur district and Jagat Singh Negi from tribal Kinnaur district.

Rohit Thakur, Anirudh Singh and Vikramaditya Singh from Jubbal-Kotkhai, Kasumpti and Shimla (Rural) in Shimla district respectively were also among those inducted. Besides the post of deputy speaker, three berths are still vacant as maximum number of ministers, including the chief minister, cannot exceed 12.

Chief Minister Sukhu and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri were sworn in on December 11.