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Punjab cabinet expansion: Who are the 5 new ministers in Bhagwant Mann govt?
Punjab cabinet expansion: Aman Arora, Inderbir Singh Nijjar, Fauja Singh Sarari, Anmol Gagan Mann and Chetan Singh Jourmajra took oath in Punjabi.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday expanded his cabinet, with five Aam Aadmi Party MLAs being inducted in the government. It was the first cabinet expansion of the AAP government after it won the Assembly elections this year.
The ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Punjab governor Banwari Lal Purohit at Raj Bhavan. Aman Arora, Inderbir Singh Nijjar, Fauja Singh Sarari, Anmol Gagan Mann and Chetan Singh Jourmajra took oath in Punjabi.
Here's all you need to know about the new members of the Bhagwant Mann cabinet.
Aman Arora
Arora is a two-time MLA from Sunam constituency which lies in Sangrur, the home town of chief minister Bhagwant Mann. The 47-year-old AAP leader won the 2022 election from the same seat by a massive margin of 75,222 votes. His influence can be gauged from the fact that the security deposits of all his opponents were forefeited.
Arora had resigned from the AAP when Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal submitted a written apology to Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia over his drug allegations in 2018. The AAP convenor managed to convince Arora to remain in the party.
Chetan Singh Jouramajra
A farmer by profession, Jouramajra hogged the limelight when he was shot by unidentified assailants while trying to prevent the kidnapping of a girl in Taran Tarn. Impressed by his brave act, Kejriwal rewarded the Patiala district rural president of the party with an election ticket. In the 2022 polls, Jouramajra defeated heavyweight Surjit Singh Rakhra and Congress' Rajinder Singh with a huge margin of 39,713 votes. Before entering politics in 2013, he was a social activist.
Fouja Singh Sarari
The cop-turned politician was elected from Guru Har Sahai seat in Ferozepur district, defeating Akali leader Vardev Singh alias Noni Mann by nearly 11,000 votes. The 62-year-old politician hails from the Rai Sikh community which has a sizeable presence in the Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat currently represented by Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal. He joined the state police force in 1985 as a constable in Bathinda district.
Anmol Gagan Mann
A Punjabi singer from Mansa district, Mann won the elections by defeating real estate baron and Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Ranjit Singh Gill by a margin of 37,885 votes. She won a world folk dance competition in England and Russia in 2004.
Inderbir Singh Nijjar
A radiologist by profession, the 66-year-old politician was elected from Amritsar South constituency. He was elected the protem speaker of the assembly when the AAP formed the government. In 2020, he was among 14 doctors booked for alleged misappropriation of funds under ex-servicemen contributory health scheme. In his poll affidavit, Nijjar claimed that he was declared an innocent in the case during probe by an additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP).
(With inputs from Punjab bureau)
