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Channi, Sidhu arrive in Delhi, discuss Punjab cabinet expansion with Congress leaders
With less than five months to go for the assembly elections in the state, Channi and Sidhu are keen to expand the council of ministers to accommodate some people from the group that took on former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, his two deputies Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni, and state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu met the central leadership of the Congress in Delhi on Tuesday to discuss the expansion of the state cabinet, said people aware of the details.
The party high command was represented by All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and AICC Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat. Rajya Sabha member Ambika Soni also met Channi and his team separately.
With less than five months to go for the assembly elections in the state, Channi and Sidhu are keen to expand the council of ministers to accommodate some people from the group that took on former CM Captain Amarinder Singh. They also want to get cracking on an 18-point agenda drawn up by the central leadership to deliver on the election promises made by the party in 2017.
“The new cabinet will see the induction of a few new faces by keeping out some of those who were part of the Amarinder Singh cabinet and involved in controversies to give it a fresh look and make a clean break from the previous setup,” a person familiar with the developments said on condition of anonymity.
The names doing the rounds for inclusion in the cabinet include Inderbir Singh Bolaria (Amritsar south), Amrinder Singh Raja Warring (Gidderbaha), Pargat Singh (Jalandhar Cantt), Sangat Singh Gilizian (Urmar) and Madan Lal Jalalpur (Ghanaur). Gilzian, who has been seeking due representation for backward classes in the cabinet, had made a personal request to Rahul Gandhi for inclusion in the new cabinet when he was in Chandigarh to attend the oath-taking ceremony of the new chief minister and his two deputies on Monday, said sources.
There is speculation that Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and Sham Sunder Arora may not find a place in the new team. They formerly held ministries such as social justice, sports and industriesbut were embroiled in controversies related to disbursal of funds and land. Several legislators, including former ministers Balbir Singh Sidhu and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and MLA Parminder Singh Pinky, are also camping in Delhi in the hope of getting ministerial berths.
Channi and Sidhu did not speak to the media or respond to calls.
The chief minister, his deputies and the state chief will fly from Delhi to Amritsar on Tuesday nightwhere they will pay obeisance at the Golden Temple and visit the Durgiana Mandir early in the morning. On their way to Chandigarh, they are likely to visit Dera Sachkhand Ballan, a place revered by the Scheduled Caste community in Jalandhar. Meanwhile, the AlCC made two more appointments in the state Congress on Tuesday: Yoginder Pal Dhingra has been appointed general secretary while Gulzar Inder Chahal is the new treasurer.
