CM Amarinder Singh announces expansion after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi okays names, two junior ministers to get promoted to cabinet rank too.
Chandigarh: The Punjab cabinet is set for expansion Saturday, with Congress president Rahul Gandhi giving his approval to the induction of nine new ministers.
Seniority and adequate regional representation were the key criteria in the selection of the new ministers, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said after a second round of discussions with Gandhi on the issue.
Amarinder Singh said there was complete consensus on the names of Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Sunder Sham Arora, O.P. Soni, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, and Balbir Singh Sidhu.
The new ministers, all of whom will get cabinet rank, will be sworn in at a ceremony in Chandigarh at 6 pm Saturday. Their portfolios will be announced later, according to an official spokesperson.
Amarinder Singh said it has also been decided to elevate ministers of state Razia Sultana and Aruna Chaudhary to cabinet rank, and they too would take oath afresh during Saturday’s ceremony.
The CM said the expansion of the cabinet would infuse fresh dynamism into the government, as the workload of the state’s nearly 40 departments would get divided among 18 members, including himself.
The new ministers
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa represents Dera Baba Nanak, and was among the 42 Congress MLAs to submit their resignations in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict in the Satluj-Yamuna Link case).
Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria is the MLA from Raja Sansi. Both Randhawa and Sarkaria are three-time MLAs.
Vijay Inder Singla, who was elected to Parliament in 2009, won the state assembly elections from Sangrur last year.
Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who represents Ludhiana West, is a two-time MLA and a former deputy leader of the Congress Legislature Party.
Sunder Sham Arora, elected to the assembly for the second time, is the MLA from Hoshiarpur.
O.P. Soni, representing Amritsar Central, is a five-time MLA.
Rana Gurmeet Sodhi is a four-time MLA from Guru Har Sahai (Ferozepur).
Gurpreet Kangar is a three-time MLA from Rampura Phul (Bathinda).
Balbir Sidhu is a three-time MLA from SAS Nagar.