Speculations around the cabinet expansion in Himachal Pradesh will soon be put to rest with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expected to release a list late on Saturday. The Congress chief minister had left the Assembly session midway and travelled to New Delhi to finalise the cabinet berths.
As per sources, the oath-taking ceremony is likely to take place at 10am on Sunday, with Governor R V Arlekar also scheduled to arrive on the same day.
The chief minister held meetings with the Congress high command and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The MLAs have been lobbying intensely for cabinet berths and several of them accompanied Sukhu to the national capital to secure a last-minute position.
One reason for the delay is the deliberations on the division of portfolios between upper and lower Himachal Pradesh, party sources said. Shimla has the highest number of contenders for cabinet berths.
In the recently concluded Vidhan Sabha session, the BJP attacked the Congress government, claimed that the ruling party lacked a vision and questioned its leadership for not being able to announce a functioning cabinet even weeks after the election results came out.