Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini is likely to expand his Cabinet tomorrow, ahead of the imposition of the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections which will be announced later in the day tomorrow. More than six ministers could be inducted in tomorrow’s expansion.
According to constitutional provisions, Haryana can have a maximum of 14 ministers, including the CM. Currently, the state Cabinet has a total of five ministers—four of the BJP and one Independent——in addition to Saini. There are eight vacant berths in the Cabinet.
Sources said that while Saini will be bound by the compulsion of accommodating the Independents who have extended support to his government during the trust vote soon after he was made CM, he will try to balance the caste equations in his new-look Cabinet.
According to the information available, the council of ministers will have a mix of old faces and new names which have been decided in consultation with the party top brass.
The CM was away to Delhi to meet senior leaders and is learnt to have got their stamp on the expansion. Sources also added that former Health Minister, Anil Vij, is unlikely to be a part of the new Cabinet.
With the poll code to come into force with the announcement of election dates for the Lok Sabha elections, sources said that Saini is keen to have the Cabinet berths filled in an attempt to help Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) draw mileage from the caste-balancing. Also, he would want to give representation to different pockets of the state. Presently, there is no minister from the GT Road in his Cabinet besides other areas.
With the ministers yet to get their portfolios though their swearing-in took place alongside the CM on March 12, sources said that these would come once the expansion takes place tomorrow.
