Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday inducted 10 cabinet ministers, including a woman, in his cabinet, showing a preference for first-time legislators.
Also read: AAP nominates party MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan as next Punjab assembly speaker
Barring Harpal Singh Cheema and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, the other ministers have been elected to the assembly for the first time.
Cheema, 47, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Dirba, was the leader of the opposition in the previous assembly.
Hayer, who has got re-elected from Barnala, is the state youth wing president of the AAP.
Dr Baljit Kaur (Malout), Harbhajan Singh (Jandiala), Dr Vijay Singla (Mansa), Lal Chand Kataruchak (Bhoa), Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (Ajnala), Laljit Singh Bhullar (Patti), Brahm Shanker Jimpa (Hoshiarpur), and Harjot Singh Bains (Anandpur Sahib) are the first-time legislators inducted into the state cabinet.
“Many, 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, and give them an honest government. We have to make Rangla Punjab,” Mann had tweeted while announcing his cabinet on Friday.
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to them at a simple ceremony at Guru Nanak Auditorium in Raj Bhawan here in the presence of Mann and other AAP leaders and legislators.
{{/usCountry}}Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to them at a simple ceremony at Guru Nanak Auditorium in Raj Bhawan here in the presence of Mann and other AAP leaders and legislators.
{{/usCountry}}All 10 cabinet ministers took the oath in Punjabi.
Chief secretary Anirudh Tewari conducted the proceedings.
The state cabinet will hold its first meeting at 2pm.
The newly inducted ministers and MLAs came along with their family members. Mann’s children Seerat and Dilshan were also present. In contrast, Mann’s swearing-in at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, on Wednesday was a grand affair.
Mann had named his team in a tweet on Friday evening, giving the names and photos of MLAs to be sworn-in as cabinet ministers.
The AAP swept the polls, winning 92 of the 117 assembly seats, pushing the Congress to a distant runner-up position with only 18 seats.
The names of senior party leaders Aman Arora, Saravjit Kaur Manuke, Baljinder Kaur, Budh Ram, and Kultar Singh Sandhwan were also doing the rounds in party circles earlier for cabinet berths.
All five were re-elected from their seats for the second time, but have not found place in the first list of cabinet ministers. The constitutional cap allows 18 ministers, including the chief minister, which is 15% of the number of members of the assembly.
The party has decided to nominate Kotkapura MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan for the Speaker’s post. He will be formally elected as the Speaker on March 21.
“Heartful thanks to my leader Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann for reposing faith in me by nominating me as the Speaker of the historic 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha,” Sandhwan tweeted soon after the announcement on Friday evening.