Punjab swearing-in ceremony: 10 AAP MLAs to take oath in Bhagwant Mann-led cabinet today
Highlight
- Ten MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party will take oath as ministers in Punjab today
- Eight out of 10 ministers have become MLAs for the first time.
- The newly elected MLAs of Punjab, including CM Mann, took oath as members of the Legislative Assembly on March 17.
Ten Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs will take oath as ministers in the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab cabinet at a swearing-in ceremony in Chandigarh on Saturday (March 19).
The leaders who will become a part of the cabinet are Harpal Singh Cheema, Baljit Kaur, Harbhajan Singh ETO, Vijay Singla, Lal Chand Kataruchak, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Laljit Singh Bhullar, Bram Shanker and Harjot Singh Bains.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Punjab Raj Bhavan at around 11 am today.
Ten ministers including a woman will be inducted in the Bhagwant Mann government of Punjab today. Eight out of 10 ministers have become MLAs for the first time.
“The new cabinet of Punjab will take oath tomorrow. Many congratulations to all the ministers who will be in the AAP government of Punjab. The people of Punjab have given a big responsibility to all of us. We have to serve the people. By working hard day and night. Give them an honest government. We have to make Rangla into Punjab.
Earlier on March 17, newly elected MLAs of Punjab, including Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, took oath as members of the Legislative Assembly.
Pro tem Speaker Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the MLAs. The AAP leader and the party’s face for the recently held Punjab Assembly elections took oath as the chief minister of the state on March 16.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also decided to nominate Kultar Singh Sandhwan as the Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.
Sources said that after taking oath, the newly appointed minister will take charge at the Punjab Civil Secretariat and the first cabinet meeting of the AAP government will be held in the afternoon.
There are 18 berths in the cabinet including that of the Chief Minister. Five of the ten MLAs represent the Malwa region, four from Majha and one from Doaba.
The four MLAs who took oath as ministers represent the reserved constituencies- Dirba, Jandiala, Malout and Bhoa.
The ministers who will be inducted include Harpal Singh Cheema, a second-time MLA from Dirba and the party’s Dalit face. He was also the Leader of the Opposition in the previous Assembly.
Barnala’s two-time MLA Gurmeet Singh Meet Hare will also find a place in the cabinet headed by Mann.
Other MLAs to be inducted in the cabinet are Dr Baljit Kaur, Harbhajan Singh from Jandiala, Dr Vijay Singla from Mansa, Lal Chand from Bhoa, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from Ajnala, Laljit Singh Bhullar from Patti, Brahm Shanker from Hoshiarpur and Harjot Bains from Anandpur Sahib.
Cheema, a lawyer by profession, defeated Gulzar Singh Moonak of Shiromani Akali Dal by a margin of 50,655 votes.
He was first elected as an MLA in 2017 and also served as a member of the Vidhan Sabha Committee on Welfare of SCs, STs and BCs.
AAP youth wing president Meet Hare defeated SAD candidate Kulwant Singh Keetu from Barnala seat by a margin of 37,622 votes.
The only woman to have got a ministerial post is Dr Baljit Kaur, who has won from Malout.
An eye surgeon, 46, she is the daughter of Sadhu Singh, who was the AAP MP from Faridkot from 2014 to 2019.
She joined AAP after resigning from her government job at Muktsar Civil Hospital. During election meetings, he even examined eye patients.
Kaur defeated SAD candidate Harpreet Singh by 40,261 votes from Malout in Muktsar district.
Dr Vijay Singla, 52, won from Mansa, where he defeated popular Punjabi singer and Congress candidate Shubhdeep Singh, also known as Sidhu Moosewala, by a huge margin of 63,323 votes.
Singla is a Dentist and has done Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Punjabi University, Patiala.
Harjot Bains is elected from Anandpur Sahib constituency. He defeated former speaker and Congress candidate Rana KP Singh.
Bains, a lawyer by profession, had contested from Sahnewal in 2017 and was unsuccessful. Bains is the former president of the youth wing of the party.
Laljit Singh Bhullar became MLA from Patti seat. He defeated political stalwart Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, who is the son-in-law of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Bhullar had joined AAP in 2019.
Harbhajan Singh won from Jandiala by defeating Punjab Congress Working President Sukhwinder Singh Danny.
Harbhajan had unsuccessfully contested from this seat in 2017. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was elected MLA from Ajnala. He defeated SAD candidate Amarpal Singh. Dhaliwal had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar.
Lal Chand Kataruchak, who was the party’s SC wing president, won from the Bhoa seat of Pathankot. He defeated Congress candidate Joginder Pal.
Bram Shankar Zimpa has been elected from Hoshiarpur seat. He defeated former minister and Congress candidate Sundar Sham Arora.
Earlier, the names of two-time AAP MLAs Aman Arora, Baljinder Kaur and Sarvjit Kaur Manuke were also in discussion for the post of minister.
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday administered the oath of office and secrecy to Bhagwant Mann at a function held at Khatkar Kalan, the native village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
AAP registered a thumping victory by winning 92 out of the 117 assembly seats. The ruling Congress won 18, down from 77 in 2017.
(with inputs from agencies)
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