Punjab cabinet expansion: 15 MLAs take oath as Cabinet ministers
Punjab cabinet expansion: 15 Congress MLAs including Rana Gurjeet Singh and Randeep Singh Nabha took oath as Cabinet ministers at Punjab Raj Bhawan on Sunday (September 26).
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit administered oath to 15 Congress MLAs. Six of them are completely new while at least one returning to the ministerial position after 3 years.
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The 15 MLAs who took oath today as Punjab Cabinet Ministers are Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Singh Badal, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Rana Gurjeet Singh, Aruna Chaudary, Razia Sultana, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Vijay Inder Singla, Randeep Singh Nabha, Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Gukrirat Singh Kotli.
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Of these, Nabha, Verka, Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Warring, and Kotli are completely new to the job.
Rana Gurjeet Singh, who was earlier a part of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's team, was dropped in January 2018 over a sand mining scandal. He is one of the richest MLAs of Punjab.
Ahead of Punjab cabinet expansion and the oath taking ceremony, six MLAs had written to state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu to protest the "proposed inclusion" Rana Gurjeet Singh in the new cabinet.
However, the resentment by Cong MLAs didn't restricted his inclusion. In fact, those were dropped from the team also expressed their disappointment.
"What was my mistake? I want to ask the party high command why my name was not considered for the new cabinet," said outgoing state Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu.
Likewise, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, who was dropped as Revenue Minister, also sought answers over his ouster from the high command.
The development comes ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections 2022.
-PTC News
