Post poll,Cabinet reshuffle likely in HP

What has added significance to the reports about the reshuffle is Dhumal’s announcement during the poll campaign to suitably reward the areas where the sitting BJP MLAs give an impressive margin to the party. There are chances that the MLAs failing to prove their standings may face questions.

The real trouble will be for the sitting ministers losing their foothold,or being unable to maintain their previous margins. Chances are that Dhumal may drop one or two of them to accommodate new faces in the Cabinet.

The big question is about the possibility of Dhumal inducting former minister and BJP MLA Mohinder Singh,who is expected to have an impressive lead in his area and be a ‘king-maker’. This is because the votes from his area are likely to play a major role in the likely victory of Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur from Hamirpur parliamentary constituency.

This is the first time after delimitation that Mohinder’s Assembly segment voted for Hamirpur,instead of Mandi. The stakes are high for BJP in Hamirpur. In the 2008 by-election,Anurag Thakur had swept all 17 Assembly segments to get a record margin of 1.74 lakh votes.

Mandi had emerged as a BJP stronghold in the Assembly elections,with seven out of 10 Assembly seats here going to the saffron party. However,the district has only one Cabinet minister,Gulab Singh Thakur,who is Anurag Thakur’s father-in-law. The Congress,during the poll campaign,had attacked Dhumal of running the state affairs purely on strength of his family and relatives. “It’s Gulab-Prem-Anurag (GPA) running the show,” Narinder Thakur,the Congress candidate from Hamirpur had alleged.

If Dhumal chooses to give the Cabinet a new look,then he is likely to pick MLAs from Mandi and Una districts.

The BJP had won 41 Assembly seats in the 2007 elections. Later,lone BSP MLA Sanjay Chaudhry also joined the BJP legislature party. In addition,three independent MLAs,one of them Congress rebel Rakesh Verma (Theog) also decided to support the BJP. The ruling party now has a 45-member strong group in the 68-member House.

Similarly,two other Lok Sabha constituencies that are being watched closely are Mandi and Shimla. In Kangra,things will depend on a split in OBC votes,as the Congress candidate Chander Kumar had tried to mobilise his community support,besides encashing on Congress influence. “I will win my seat. You will see it tomorrow,” Chander Kumar told The Indian Express.

Administrative changes expected
Sources say Dhumal is contemplating a bureaucratic reshuffle in the Secretariat and the districts. Some young Himachal Pradesh Administrative Services (HAS) officers,whose names were recently cleared for induction into the IAS,may be posted as DCs. There will also be changes in the departments held by principal secretaries and secretaries.