Khanduri to expand Council of Ministers next week; meets Montek

New Delhi, Mar 21 (UNI) The tough job of expanding his Council of Ministers will be accomplished by newly-installed Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen (retd) BC Khanduri next week.

Maj Gen Khanduri had taken oath with just one-Member Council on March eight following victory of the BJP in the Assembly elections which saw the ruling Congress at the Centre go out of power in the state.

Mr Khanduri today said here that he had held wide consultations with the party leadership and will be inducting more ministers next week.

He was talking to reporters after meeting Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia here.

The retired Army officer, whose installation as Chief Minister could be possible after hectic efforts by party leadership to calm down supporters of state BJP chief Bhagat Singh Koshiari, has to accommodate a number of interests in his Council which can't have more than 12 Members by rule.

The Minister who had taken oath alongwith Maj Gen Khanduri was former Speaker Prakash Pant who hails from the Kumaon region, while the Chief Minister comes from the Garhwal region.

The Chief Minister has to accommodate at least one MLA from the three-member Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) and three Independents, who have pledged support to the new government. The BJP having won 34 seats in a 69-Member Assembly is short of majority by just one MLA and it is on their support that its government would survive.

Besides, there are many senior BJP leaders including former ministers like Ramesh Nishank, Bansi Dhar Bhagat and Matbar Singh Kandari who were also expecting berth in the Ministry.

Maj Gen Khanduri, who is in the capital over the past two days, said he discussed with the Planning Commission the developmental problems of Uttarakhand and how its natural resources could be put to maximum use for the benefit of its people.

He said the development of the state had suffered during the last few years, and it was sad that the state despite being blessed with abundant natural resources was grappling with backwardness and poverty.

Maj Gen Khanduri said he told Mr Ahluwalia that the state will be needing much more funds to finance the projects in the priority areas.

The Chief Minister described his meeting with the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman as fruitful.

Earlier, besides meeting his top party leaders, the Chief Minister had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and called on President A P J Abdul Kalam. He also had a meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Defence Minister Pranab Kumar Mukherjee.

UNI