BJP in process of finalising candidates for new Uttarakhand cabinet

Having decided to retain Pushkar Singh Dhami as the chief minister, the BJP has now moved on to the next job at hand, cabinet formation in Uttarakhand.

As the party leaders are busy picking up MLAs for ministerial berths, the media continues to speculate about the look of Dhami's new cabinet, which is likely to be a combination of old and new faces.

At least three new inductions in Dhami's new cabinet are a certainty. As Harak Singh Rawat and Yashpal Arya, who were members of the last cabinet, joined the Congress ahead of the Assembly polls and former minister Swami Yatishwaranand lost his seat, the party needs to pick up three new faces to fill the slots that were occupied by them.

Probables who could be brought in for the three slots include former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna's son and Sitarganj MLA Saurav Bahugua, former chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri's daughter and Kotdwar MLA Ritu Khanduri Bhushan and Dilip Singh Rawat, who scored an emphatic win over Harak Singh Rawat's daughter-in-law, Anukriti Gusain, in Lansdowne.

All of them will make their debut as ministers if inducted into Dhami's new cabinet.

Old faces likely to be retained are Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat, Rekha Arya and Arvind Pandey, who were all members of Dhami's last cabinet.

Dhami is all set to take oath as the 12th chief minister of the hill state, along with his cabinet, at a grand ceremony on the Parade Ground here on Wednesday afternoon in the presence of the top BJP brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda.