With polling for the Bazpur Assembly seat over, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Major General B C Khanduri (retd) is expected to expand his ministry tomorrow. Khanduri was sworn in as Chief Minister on March 5 following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the Assembly elections held last month. Along with him, only Parkash Pant was sworn in as a Cabinet minister. The BJP bagged 34 seats out of the 69 that went to polls, falling one seat short of the simple majority. A win in Bazpur will put the party at the halfway mark of 35 in the 70-member Assembly. The counting for Bazpur would be held on March 29. Following the result, it got the support from three-member Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) and three Independents. Since then there has been a lot of speculation over ministry formation due to intense pressure from the supporting MLAs with ministerial ambitions. According to party sources, the Chief Minister will go for 11 more ministers to complete his ministry. Besides adjusting senior BJP leaders, he has to give representation to various castes and regions from his own party. His choice as the chief ministerial candidate has already annoyed a section of the party headed by state unit chief and former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who too was in the race for the top post. BJP sources said Khanduri would only be able to adjust one member each from the UKD and the Independent group in his ministry. If the BJP is able to retain the Bazpur seat, it will help him resist the pressure from the UKD for more ministerial berths.
