Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has inducted 15 ministers in his new cabinet by bringing seven new faces. Seven new faces are Randeep Singh Nabha, Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Gurkirat Singh Kotli.
But the notable and controversial name in the cabinet is of Rana Gurjit Singh, who had resign from the cabinet headed by former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh following charges of corruption in sand mining contracts.
Other ministers joining Channi’s cabinet are Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Singh Badal, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Aruna Chaudhary, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Razia Sultana, Vijay Inder Singla and Bharat Bhushan Ashu. All of them were ministers in Amarinder Singh’s cabinet.
Channi took to Twitter to share the oath-taking ceremony of new ministers at the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh.
— Charanjit S Channi (@CHARANJITCHANNI) September 26, 2021
The choice of Channi as the first-ever Dalit Sikh chief minister of Punjab in the aftermath of Amarinder Singh’s resignation had stunned everyone. Singh had to resign after falling out with the Congress leadership in the wake of his power tussle with Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Meanwhile, the decision to drop a few old ministers evoked angry reactions from those who were not considered for the new cabinet. Prominent among those dropped were Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh Kangar and Sunder Sham Arora.
Balbir Singh Sidhu and Gurpreet Singh Kangar, according to news agency PTI, held a joint press conference to question their exclusion. Sindhu, in particular, broke down as he asked why he had been punished.
Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, now in-charge of Punjab affairs, said that those dropped from the new cabinet would be accommodated in the government and the party organisation.