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Punjab cabinet expands to 15 as five new ministers take oath
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit administers oath of office and secrecy to five AAP legislators, including two-time MLA Aman Arora
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann added five new ministers to the state cabinet on Monday, showing a preference for first-time legislators. The new cabinet ministers are Aman Arora, Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, Fauja Singh Sarari, Chetan Singh Jouramajra and Anmol Gagan Maan.
They were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit at the Guru Nanak Auditorium in Raj Bhawan here in the presence of Mann, other ministers and several legislators of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Barring Arora, who is a two-time MLA from Sunam seat, all new ministers have been elected to the state assembly for the time. Arora was the first to take oath followed by Nijjar, MLA from Amritsar South. Then, Sarari and Jouramajra, who represent Guru Harsahai and Samana seats, respectively, were administered oath as cabinet ministers.
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Anmol Gagan, who represents Kharar and was the last to be sworn in, is the second woman to join the Mann cabinet. All of them took oath in Punjabi.
Arora (47), who won with the highest margin of 75,277 votes in the 2022 assembly polls in Punjab, was a frontrunner for a ministerial position at the time of government formation in March. The articulate leader’s omission had surprised many in the party circles.
Dr Nijjar (66), a radiologist by profession, is the president of Chief Khalsa Diwan, a 118-year-old Sikh organisation that runs educational institutes, health centres and human welfare projects. Sarari (62), a retired police inspector, belongs to the Rai Sikh community.
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Jouramajra (45) is an agriculturist and was the president of Patiala district rural unit of the party. Anmol Gagan (32) was a Punjabi singer before she joined politics and became the state co-president of the youth wing of AAP.
The expansion, the first since Mann constituted his cabinet three-and-a-half months ago, comes days after the AAP suffered a setback in the Sangrur Lok Sabha byelection. With the induction of five new ministers, the cabinet has 15 members, including the chief minister (CM). The constitutional cap allows 18 ministers, including the CM, which is 15% of the number of members of the state assembly, and still leaves Mann with three slots to fill.
Portfolios in a day or two: Mann
After the swearing-in ceremony, Mann said the new ministers will be given the portfolios in a day or two. The chief minister said that he has a lot of burden with him as he has too many portfolios.
“We will allot good portfolios to them. I expect that whatever responsibility is given to them, they will perform it,” he told reporters. The CM also said that he expects that all the ministers will work honestly and in a transparent manner.
In response to a question on other two-time MLAs being left out in the cabinet expansion, Mann said all 92 party legislators are “diamonds” and responsibilities will be given in future to the MLAs, be it the first-timers or second-timers. Meanwhile, the cabinet is scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
SIDELIGHTS
Dressed for the occasion: Aman Arora, the only two-time MLA to take oath as a minister, was dressed suavely for the occasion. Mostly seen in bright colours, he chose dark-blue Nehru jacket along with a matching pair of trousers and a light-gray shirt. He arrived at the Raj Bhawan accompanied by his mother, wife and children and greeted his fellow legislators before taking oath.
Media, politicos not allowed to mingle: The government ensured complete separation between mediapersons and politicians during the event. Not only the journalists were stopped from entering the high-tea area for ministers and other politicians after the oath, some MLAs faced a similar treatment when they were turned away from where buffet was laid for the scribes.
