Upadhyay demands cabinet expansion in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand PCC chief Kishore Upadhyay today demanded that the expansion of state council of ministers should take place at the earliest and suggested Chief Minister Harish Rawat it could be done after the conclusion of special session of the Assembly.
"For quite some time two cabinet berths have been lying vacant and after the two-day Assembly session ends on July 22, the cabinet expansion can take place on July 23," said Upadhyay.
However, the government sources claimed that the Chief Minister is not in favour of cabinet expansion.
In February last year, the post of Social Welfare Minister
Had fallen vacant after the death of incumbent Surendra Rakesh.

Another post had fallen vacant after state Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat was expelled from the cabinet in March for rebelling against the government.

Rawat has been under intense pressure from party and MLAs to fill the vacant slots given that Assembly polls are due in the state next year.
"The expansion of the cabinet should take place at the earliest so that our MLAs and workers stay motivated for the elections," Upadhyay added.
In a likely scenario of cabinet expansion, former union minister's son and Vikasnagar MLA Nav Prabhat and Badrinath MLA Rajendra Singh Bhandari could be the front runners, party sources said.

Also the names of the said leaders have been cleared by the party high command, sources added.
Currently, there are nine members in council of ministers besides Chief Minister Rawat.