Chandigarh: A last-minute replacement, an abortive campaign to dislodge another from the shortlist and a public outburst by two disgruntled ex-ministers marked the swearing-in of new Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi’s 15-member cabinet on Sunday, mirroring the drama of his own selection a week ago.
Just as the ceremony was to begin, the Congress leadership decided to induct four-time Amloh MLA Randeep Singh Nabha in place of PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu’s loyalist Kuljit Singh Nagra, who had been part of the original shortlist. While that came as a surprise, the party chose to ignore mounting opposition from a group of MLAs from the Doaba region to the inclusion of Rana Gurjit Singh.
Besides Nabha and Rana Gurjit, the new faces in the cabinet are Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Gurkirat Singh Kotli. At 43, Warring is the youngest of the ministers. Among the seven, only Rana Gurjit has been a minister before.
Sources said Rahul Gandhi's intervention on Saturday night led to Nagra making way for Nabha. Since Nagra is believed to be close to the leadership, he was a picture of compliance. "I have decided not to be part of the cabinet, as I had earlier submitted my resignation on the farmers' issue. I stand with the farmers' agitation," Nagra, who is one of the four PCC working presidents, tweeted.
After the swearing-in, he said, "It was my personal decision to resign (from the assembly) for the sake of the farmers, and then I could not have become a minister." Congress decided to reinduct two loyalists of former CM Amarinder Singh into the new ministry - Brahm Mohindra and Vijay Inder Singla. The other former ministers who retained their cabinet berths include Manpreet Singh Badal, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Aruna Chaudhary, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Razia Sultana and Bharat Bhushan Ashu. Among the former ministers who didn't make the cut, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Gurpreet Singh Kangar made their displeasure known by questioning the rationale behind their omission from the list.
