Harish Rawat chairs first cabinet meeting after floor test

Dehradun, May 12: Reinstated as Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Harish Rawat on Thursday held the first meeting of his cabinet and decided to expedite execution of decisions taken earlier.

The cabinet meeting was held a day after President's Rule was revoked in Uttarakhand and he was reinstated as chief minister.

During the cabinet, it was decided to expedite implementation of the old decisions of the Cabinet and Government Orders, a brief communication from the information department said. The press briefing, which was to be held after the Cabinet meeting at 12:30, was cancelled.

Rawat had regretted the heavy loss suffered by Uttarakhand due to prolonged political uncertainty in the state yesterday and promised to work hard to make up for the loss. He had said the judiciary has restored the faith of people in democracy in Uttarakhand and pledged to start afresh forgetting the "bad patch" to take the state forward.

Rawat was on Wednesday restored as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, 46 days after he was ousted by the Centre in a political battle that ended in a setback to Narendra Modi government as the Supreme Court put its stamp of approval on the floor test in the Assembly.

Shortly after the court's directions, the Union Cabinet recommended to the President lifting of President's Rule to enable restoration of the Rawat government.

PTI