Logo

Logo

9 new faces join Punjab cabinet, two MoSes promoted

Majority of the new ministers is said to be the loyalists of CM Amarinder Singh.

9 new faces join Punjab cabinet, two MoSes promoted

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh (Photo: Facebook)

Eleven ministers, including two women ministers who were elevated to the cabinet rank, were on Saturday inducted into Punjab’s Amarinder Singh government.

In a ceremony at Punjab Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh on Saturday evening, Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new cabinet ministers. Along with the nine first timers, two women ministers, Aruna Chaudhary and Razia Sultana, who were ministers of state, were promoted to the cabinet rank.

The new ministers are Dera Baba Nanak legislator Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Raja Sansi legislator Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Sangrur legislator Vijay Inder Singla, Ludhiana west legislator Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Hoshiarpur legislator Sunder Shyam Arora, Amritsar north legislator OP Soni, Guru Har Sahai legislator Rana Gurmit Sodhi, Rampura Phul legislator Gurpreet Kangar and Mohali legislator Balbir Sidhu.

Advertisement

Majority of the new ministers is said to be the loyalists of the CM. Strong contenders who got left out included Indian Youth Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Kuljit Singh Nagra, former Olympian Pargat Singh and Dalit leader Raj Kumar Verka.

Congress legislators Sangat Singh Gilzian, Surjit Dhiman and Nathu Ram resigned from party posts after the list of new ministers was announced. It is learnt that senior Congress leaders, including Congress party in-charge for Punjab Asha Kumari, spoke to some of the disgruntled legislators to pacify them.

The names of the new ministers were approved in New Delhi on Friday following two days of meetings between Amarinder Singh and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders.

Advertisement