Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, whose 13-day-old government was expanded today, said his priorities will be to further accelerate the pace of development in the state.
“Every member of the team (the Cabinet) will have to work hard for the welfare of people. Our thrust will be to further accelerate the pace of development that our previous regime started. Creation of jobs and infrastructure will also be one of our priorities,” Mr. Hooda told reporters here.
Mr. Hooda inducted six Cabinet ministers and three Ministers of State giving ministerial berths to all seven Independent MLAs, who bailed out his government during a confidence vote in the state assembly.
Asked how he will accommodate those who had been left out, including his bete noire and sitting Congress MLA Kiran Choudhry, who was a minister in his previous government but did not get a berth in the Cabinet today, Mr. Hooda said, “we still have four vacancies (in the Cabinet) and we will decide at an appropriate time “.
Besides Ms. Choudhry, who is the daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, another woman minister in the previous regime Savitri Jindal, mother of Congress MP and industrialist Navin Jindal, has also not been accommodated.
On the possibility of Haryana Janhit Congress-BL leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, joining the government in future, Mr. Hooda said, “there have been no talks with him. He had earlier said that his party would offer unconditional support”.
