After facing backlash from his party for “favouring” leaders from Uttarakhand's Kumaon region, Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Thursday included two Congress legislators from the Garhwal region when he expanded his Cabinet after a delay of a year and a half.
Mr. Rawat inducted Congress MLAs from Garhwal region Nav Prabhat and Rajendra Bhandari into his 12-member Cabinet, putting an end to the allegations by his party members, including Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay, that he was biased in favour of leaders from the Kumaon region.
A controversy erupted when Mr. Rawat nominated Pradeep Tamta for a vacant Rajya Sabha seat . Mr Tamta, who hails from Almora in Kumaon region, got the Rajya Sabha nomination when many other Congress leaders had set their eyes on it.
This was seen by many Congress ministers as an act of favouring leaders from the Kumaon region.
