Punjab cabinet expansion on Sunday evening

Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi meets governor Banwarilal Purohit, oath-taking ceremony of new cabinet at 4.30pm tomorrow

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi met governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday afternoon to submit names of ministers likely to be inducted into the new cabinet who will take oath on Sunday evening.

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi (second from left) being felicitated by governor Banwarilal Purohit after he was sworn in at Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh on September 20 as Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Navjot Singh Sidhu look on, (HT file photo)

According to senior government functionaries, the oath-taking ceremony of the new cabinet will be conducted at 4.30pm on Sunday.

Channi landed in Chandigarh on Saturday morning after hectic talks with the party high command over the names of the new cabinet members.

Information gathered from the chief minister’s office reveals that fresh faces likely to be inducted in the new cabinet include Kuljit Singh Nagra, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Raj Kumar Verka, Amarinder Raja Warring, Gurpreet Kotli and Rana Gurjit Singh.

Those likely to be dropped from the previous Capt Amarinder Singh cabinet include Balbir Singh Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and Sundar Shyam Arora.

Other ministers will be retained, it is learnt.

The party has decided to retain old guards such as Brahm Mohindra and Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa without changing their portfolios.