Uttarakhand :CM expands cabinet, five MLAs inducted as ministers

in Uttarakhand, five Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs were sworn in as cabinet ministers during a ceremony held in Dehradun on Friday, marking a cabinet expansion. The oath-taking took place at Lok Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Uttarakhand Governor Gurmeet Singh, who administered the oath of office to the new ministers.The MLAs sworn in were Khajan Das from Rajpur Road assembly constituency, Madan Kaushik from Haridwar, Pradeep Batra from Roorkee, Bharat Chaudhary from Rudraprayag, and Ram Singh Kaira from Bhimtal assembly constituency.
The selection process involved a close evaluation of the MLAs’ performance records ahead of their induction. The expansion comes as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prepares for the 2027 assembly elections, aiming to secure a third consecutive term in the state. Political observers said the move is expected to help balance regional and caste equations, which are considered crucial in Uttarakhand’s electoral landscape.
Five ministerial positions had been lying vacant in the cabinet led by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Of these, three posts remained unfilled after the BJP returned to power for a second consecutive term in 2022, while two additional vacancies arose following the death of minister Chandan Ram Das in 2023 and the resignation of Premchand Aggarwal in March 2025.