The Hindu : Front Page : B.C. Khanduri sworn in

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Friday, Mar 09, 2007
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B.C. Khanduri sworn in

Correspondent

His rival Koshiary made chairperson of coordination panel

Photo: PTI

CELEBRATION TIME: B. C. Khanduri (third from left) with BJP president Rajnath Singh (to his right) after being sworn Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, in Dehra Dun on Thursday. Also seen is actor and BJP leader Hema Malini.

DEHRA DUN: Major General (retd.) Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri was sworn in Chief Minister of Uttarakhand by Governor Sudarshan Aggarwal on Thursday along with former Speaker and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Prakash Pant as a Cabinet Minister.

Senior leaders, including the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and the outgoing Chief Minister, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, were present at the brief ceremony.

BJP president Rajnath Singh arrived after the ceremony was over.

Panel constituted

Later, at a hurriedly called press conference, Mr. Rajnath Singh announced that a Coordination Committee had been constituted with the State BJP president and former Chief Minister, Bhagat Singh Koshiary, as its chairperson.

The committee will ensure coordination and cordial relations between the party and the Government.

The induction of just one member into the Cabinet and the constitution of the Coordination Committee headed by his arch rival indicate that all is not well in the BJP ranks and even Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani had failed to pacify Mr. Koshiary and his loyalists despite deliberations over the past several days.

The BJP top brass were trying to convince Mr. Koshiary to accept the Deputy Chief Minister's job, which he has declined saying that he would take the Chief Minister's job or else no job at all and be happy as a common worker of the party.

Mr. Koshiary enjoys the support of the RSS.

The small size of the Cabinet, likely to be expanded after the `floor test,' has irked the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and the two Independent MLAs who had supported the BJP in gaining a majority in the 70-member Assembly and were expecting to be sworn in Ministers on Thursday.

Tough demand

Insiders reveal that the UKD was seeking one Cabinet post and two Ministers of State posts besides the some top plum posts, including the vice-chairman of the State Planning Commission — a demand not easy to fulfil.

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