By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is likely to expand his cabinet shortly as part of the move to prepare for the 2027 assembly elections, sources in the ruling BJP familiar with the matter said on Monday.
CM Dhami has intensified the speculation himself by stating that discussions on the issue are going on and a final decision would be taken by the party high command. As the speculation was rife in political circles and media, lobbying by a couple of MLAs have also begun. BJP MLA from Tehri constituency Kishore Upadhayay and a couple of other party legislators met CM in the past two days.
After the resignation of state finance minister Premchand Agarwal few months ago, the number of vacancies in the state cabinet has risen to five.
The media has been speculating about a cabinet expansion in the state ever since Agarwal quit following his alleged remarks in the state assembly during its budget session against the people residing in the hills.
When the BJP came to power for a second consecutive term in the state in 2022, a total of nine ministers had been sworn in including Chief Minister Dhami. Under the constitutional provisions, Uttarakhand can have a maximum of 12 members in the cabinet.
The size of the cabinet was reduced to eight after the death of social welfare and transport minister Chandan Ram Das in April, 2023 and to seven after Agarwal’s resignation.
“The 2027 assembly elections are not very far-off. This is the ripe time for CM Dhami to expand his cabinet and suitably reshuffle it,” said a top BJP leader.
In his various interactions with the media, state BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt agreed that the time was right for the cabinet expansion. He said he had discussed the matter with the Chief Minister and they had agreed that the time was appropriate.
Dhami, who is continuously monitoring situations arising out of a series of disasters in the state, is likely to visit Delhi again to take the opinion of the party’s central leaders before expanding his cabinet, the sources said.
At present, Satpal Maharaj, Subodh Uniyal, Ganesh Joshi, Dhan Singh Rawat, Saurabh Bahugna and Rekha Arya are cabinet ministers.