Imbalanced regional representation in new Himachal cabinet: Jai Ram Thakur

The Congress government has failed to give adequate representation to various regions in the cabinet expansion on Sunday, Leader of Opposition in Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur alleged here.

The BJP leader and former chief minister also criticised the government over the appointment of six chief parliamentary secretaries, saying it would put a burden of crores of rupees on the state exchequer.

Out of the 13 appointments made by the Congress government, eight MLAs have been appointed from Shimla parliamentary constituency while the rest of the three parliamentary constituencies have not been given adequate share, Thakur said in a statement here.

Taking a dig at the Congress government, he said during the three days of assembly session that concluded recently, the Congress leaders talked about reducing the expenditure in Himachal but now they have appointed six CPS and put additional burden on the state exchequer.

He said that as of now Himachal is under a debt of Rs 74,622 crores and the state government is planning to raise a loan of Rs 3000 crores.

Thakur said that the government has given another "gift" to the poor people of Himachal by increasing the VAT on diesel by Rs. 3 from Rs 4.40 to Rs.7.40.

The increase in the prices of diesel shows that there is a definite increase in freight charges in the state. It would put an additional burden on farmers as diesel is now going to cost Rs 86 per litre in Himachal, he said.

The BJP state president and MP Suresh Kashyap said the appointment of six CPS will increase the burden on the state economy.

The four-week old Himachal Pradesh cabinet headed by Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was expanded on Sunday with the induction of seven ministers, including Vikramaditya Singh, the son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh.

The strength of the cabinet rose to nine. Besides the post of deputy speaker, three minsiterial berths are still vacant as maximum number of ministers, including the chief minister, cannot exceed 12.

Shimla district with seven MLAs has been given a lion's share in the cabinet with three ministers and one Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS), while Bilaspur, Mandi and Lahaul and Spiti failed to get any representation.

The ministers include five Rajputs, one Brahmin and one member each from Schedule Tribe, Scheduled Caste and OBC categories.