Punjab CM expands Cabinet; 15 new ministers to be sworn in today

In Punjab, today 15 MLAs will be inducted in Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. The swearing in ceremony will take place at 4.30 pm in the evening. Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit will administer the oath of office and secrecy to them.

The Congress high command has finalised the names of 15 MLAs yesterday. Mr Channi was summoned to Delhi by the Congress high command on Friday to discuss the Cabinet expansion, barely hours after he had returned from the national Capital.

Among the new faces to be inducted in the Cabinet are MLA from Gidderbaha Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, three-time MLA from Amritsar -West Dr Raj Kumar Verka, MLA from Urmar Sangat Singh Gilzian, former minister and MLA from Jalandhar Cantt Pargat Singh, MLA from Fatehgarh Sahib Kuljit Singh Nagra and  MLA from Khanna Gurkirat Kotli.

Former Irrigation Minister and MLA from Kapurthala Rana Gurjeet Singh will also get place in the Cabinet. He was a minister in Capt Amarinder’s Cabinet but he had stepped down after an alleged scam regarding allotment of sand mines.

Among the former ministers likely to be taken again are Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Badal, Sukhbinder Sarkaria, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Vijay Inder Singla, Aruna Chaudhary, Razia Sultana and Bharat Bhushan Ashu.

Former ministers Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Sunder Sham Arora, Rana Gurmit Sodhi, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Gurpreet Kangar will not  get a place in the expanded Cabinet. Mr Arora said he had already vacated his official residence.