KANGRA ( S Gopal Puri)
The Himachal Pradesh council of ministers, led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, has three representatives from Shimla district whereas the politically most-significant Kangra, having maximum 15 Assembly seats, has only two.
Alike maximum representation in the cabinet, the three ministers from Shimla district — Vikramaditya Singh, Rohit Thakur and Anirudh Singh, all first-timers — are more dominant among the public as well as on social media compared to the two from Kangra — Chander Kumar and Yadvinder Goma.
Vikramaditya among most active Himachal ministers
PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh appears the most active politically too, not just in Himachal but even outside the state, which is apparent from his frequent meetings with central government representatives in Delhi.
An MLA from Shimla-Rural constituency and the son of former six-term Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh and Himachal Congress chief Pratibha Singh, Vikramaditya has the highest social media presence too as he has 387K followers on Facebook. Only three days ago, he met Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in Delhi and sought clearance for Himachal-linked national highways.
Rohit Thakur more visible at school functions
Education Minister Rohit Thakur, an MLA from Jubbal-Kotkhai, too has wide public presence, visible every now and then in functions organised in schools across the state. The grandson of former Chief Minister Thakur Ram Lal, Rohit isn’t too active on social media.
Anirudh Singh, an MLA from Kasumpti constituency, too is a dominant public face, though only in the upper Himachal region. He has the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj ministry and has 31K followers on Facebook.
Goma beats Chander in Facebook following
Yadvinder Goma, who was recently inducted into the Sukhu cabinet, too is a first-time minister. An MLA from Jaisinghpur reserved constituency, he holds the Ayush and Youth Services and Sports portfolio. He has a decent social media presence, having around 72K followers on Facebook.
Veteran Congress leader Chander Kumar, an MLA from Jawali, is the only minister from Kangra who has past cabinet experience.
Having Agriculture and Animal Husbandry berths, he has remained a minister in the previous Congress government headed by the late Virbhadra Singh. Kumar’s social media presence is worse than Goma as he has less than 10K followers on Facebook.
