Names ‘not’ finalised, confusion persists over Cabinet expansion
Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Chandigarh, March 16
Confusion prevailed the entire day over the first expansion of the Nayab Singh Saini government in Haryana.
May be carried out in coming days
On whether the Saini government could expand the Cabinet in the coming days, government sources say that the Model Code of Conduct doesn’t prohibit the Cabinet expansion and it will be carried out in the coming days
Right from the morning, workers and mediapersons started reaching Haryana Raj Bhawan. Police ‘bandobast’ was also put in place. Officers also kept waiting for the message for expansion. But the time was never conveyed as the government failed to finalise the ministers.
By the evening, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared the election schedule for Lok Sabha poll, thereby invoking the Model Code of Conduct.
CM Nayab Singh Saini has five ministers in the Cabinet though as per constitutional norms, he can have 14, including himself. There are eight vacant berths.
After the Constitution (Ninety First Amendment) Act, 2003, the total number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a state cannot exceed 15 per cent of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly of that state.
At present, there is no representation from Vaishya, Punjabi and Yadav communities in the Cabinet. Former Home Minister Anil Vij is upset over being ignored. Also, there is no one from GT Road.
Saini has to balance the caste equation and give representation to various pockets of the state. Four ministers are from the BJP and one is an Independent. The government having a simple majority has to placate Independents too who stood by it during the trust vote on Wednesday.
Gurugram MLA Sudhir Singla, who reached Raj Bhawan today, said that the Cabinet expansion was to take place and the time was 11 am but it had been deferred now. Talking to mediapersons, he said he had received the message to reach Raj Bhawan at 11 am. When asked whether former Home Minister Anil Vij was upset, delaying the Cabinet expansion, he said, “But attempts will be made to persuade him.”
On the other hand, Vij, in Ambala Cantonment, replied, “I am not aware. I am standing in front of you. No one contacted me. I am not upset.” He added, “Since the oath-taking ceremony, no one has talked to me. I had attended the Vidhan Sabha session too. Everyone was there. But no one talked to me.”
“Nayab Saini is my younger brother. We hope that he will do very good work,” said Vij.
Six-time MLA Anil Vij had walked out of the BJP legislature party meeting when Saini was unanimously selected for CM’s post. He didn’t even attend the swearing-in-ceremony of the CM and five ministers on Tuesday.
On whether the Saini government could expand the Cabinet in the coming days, government sources say that the Model Code of Conduct doesn’t prohibit the Cabinet expansion and it will be carried out in the coming days. Meanwhile, no reference has been sent to the Election Commission so far in this regard.
