Himachal cabinet expansion after assembly session: Congress' Rajeev Shukla

Congress Himachal Pradesh state incharge Rajeev Shukla on Monday said the cabinet expansion of the state government would take place after the upcoming assembly session.

Earlier on Monday, Shukla held a meeting with Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and AICC general secretary organisation K C Venugopal.

"Meeting was about the strategy for the upcoming assembly session. The leader of the House has to be elected there as well. Congress president's approval is also required. The election for the post of Speaker was also discussed. Cabinet expansion discussion will take place later as the upcoming session is about to start," Shukla told ANI.

The Congress Rajya Sabha MP also responded to the recent ruling by Supreme Court on demonetisation and said, "Rahul ji kept saying that because of demonetisation the nation suffered a lot. The economic crisis is due to demonetisation."

The meeting between the trio lasted for nearly 2.5 hours.

Till now, only Sukhvinder Singh as Chief Minister and Mukesh Agnihotri as his deputy, are the faces of the Congress government in Himachal while 38 other MLAs are eying for Cabinet berths.

Sukhu's supporters are expecting a big share in the Cabinet while state congress chief Pratibha Singh is expecting her son Vikramaditya to be part of the government.

Shukla also negated any chance of 'operation lotus' in the state.

The Assembly session is scheduled to be held from January 4 to January 6 in Dharamshala, after being postponed last month.