Hooda forms Cabinet at last, 9 Ministers sworn in

Chandigarh, Nov 7 : Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was sworn in as the state CM for a second consecutive term on October 25, today finally constituted his Council of Ministers with the induction of six Cabinet Ministers and three Ministers of State.

The six Cabinet Ministers and three Ministers of State were sworn in by Governor Jagannath Pahadia at the Haryana Raj Bhawan here.

Mr Hooda also inducted nine MLAs, six Congress members and three Independents, as the Chief Parliamentary Secrertaries.

Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mr Mahendra Pratap Singh, Mr Om Prakash Jain, Mr Paramveer Singh and Ms Geeta Bhukkal were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers while Mr Shiv Charan Sharma, Mr Gopal Kanda and Mr Sukhbir Kataria were sworn in as Ministers of State.

While five of the six Cabinet Ministers belong to the ruling Congress, the sixth, Om Parkash Jain, is an Independent. All the three Ministers of State are also Independents.

There are three new faces in the new Council of Ministers-- Mr Mahendra Pratap Singh, Mr Paramveer Singh and Ms Geeta Bhukkal.

Capt Ajay Singh Yadav has bagged the important Finance portfolio in the newly sworn in Council of Ministers of Mr Hooda.

Capt Yadav, the senior most minister in the Cabinet, who has been elected to the Assembly for a sixth time, was the Irrigation and PWD Minister in the previous Hooda government.

Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala has again been given the portfolios Parliamentary Affairs and Water Supply and Sanitation which he held in the previous ministry.

Besides, he has got Electronics and Information Technology, Science and Technology and Public Works (Building and Roads) Department.

Mr Mahender Partap Singh, a senior Congress leader who has made it to the state Cabinet for the first time , would hold the portfolios of Power, Renewable Energy, Labour and Employment, Food and Supplies, Urban Local Bodies and Industries and Commerce.

Mr Om Parkash Jain, an Independent MLA who had been a Minister in the Bansi Lal government, has been assigned Transport, Tourism, Civil Aviation and Hospitality. In the previous Ministry, the Transport portfolio was initially handled by Mr Surjewala and later given to Mr Mange Ram Gupta. Mr Gupta lost the elections this time. Similarly, Tourism was held by Ms Kiran Chaudhary, daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, who could not make it to the Council of Ministers this time.

Mr Paramvir Singh, who is son of former Haryana Congress president Harpal Singh, will hold the portfolios of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Fisheries and Cooperation. A two-time MLA, Mr Singh has become a Minister for the first time.

Ms Geeta Bhukkal, another first-timer in the state ministry, has been given the portfolios of Education and Languages, Social Justice and Empowerment, Women and Child Development, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, Health, Printing and Stationery.

Ms Bhukkal, who belongs to Scheduled Caste (SC), is the only woman member in the nine member Council of Ministers.

Among the Ministers of State, Mr Shiv Charan Sharma (Independent) will hold the portfolios of Revenue and Disaster Management (attached with the Chief Minister), Consolidation and Rehabilitation.

Mr Gopal Kanda (Independent) has been assigned Home (attached with the Chief Minister), Sports and Youth Affairs (attached with Chief Minister), Industries and Commerce (attached with Industries Minister).

Mr Sukhbir Kataria will hold the portfolios of Agriculture and Cooperation for which he would be attached with Agriculture and Cooperation Ministers.

The swearing-in came two weeks after Mr Hooda assumed office.

Ahead of the final installation of the Ministry today, the ruling Congress had resorted to a last-minute postponement of the Cabinet expansion which was earlier scheduled for yesterday.

After being sworn in as CM, Mr Hooda proved his majority on the floor of the Assembly on October 28 with the support of seven Independents and one BSP MLA, besides 39 Congress MLAs. A total of 47 MLAs voted in favour of the Confidence motion in the 90-member House.

--UNI

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