Punjab's Bhagwant Mann-led cabinet inducts ten AAP MLAs, including eight first-timers

Ten AAP MLAs, including a woman, were inducted in the Bhagwant Mann-led Cabinet in Punjab on Saturday. Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh.Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya was also present at the oath-taking ceremony.Harpal Singh Cheema, Harbhajan Singh, Dr Vijay Singla, Lal Chand, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Laljit Singh Bhullar, Bram Shanker Jimpa, Harjot Singh Bains and Dr Baljit Kaur, the lone woman in the cabinet, were administered the oath.Among the 10, eight are first-time MLAs. All of them took the oath in Punjabi.Barring Harpal Singh Cheema and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, the other ministers have been elected to the assembly for the first time.Cheema, 47, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Dirba, was the leader of the opposition in the previous assembly.Hayer, who has got re-elected from Barnala, is the state youth wing president of the AAP.Cheema, a legislator from Dirba, was the first to take oath followed by Dr Baljit Kaur, the lone woman in the cabinet and MLA from Malout.Next to take the oath was Harbhajan Singh from Jandiala, followed by Dr Vijay Singla from Mansa, Lal Chand from Bhoa, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Barnala, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from Ajnala, Laljit Singh Bhullar from Patti, Bram Shanker Jimpa from Hoshiarpur and Harjot Singh Bains from Anandpur Sahib.There are 18 berths in the cabinet, including the chief minister, but Bhagwant Mann has gone for a lean cabinet.Mann had announced the names of MLAs who will be inducted into the cabinet on 18 March, 2022.Of the cabinet members, Harpal Singh Cheema is a two-time legislator from Dirba and the party's Dalit face. Cheema, 47, had been the Leader of the Opposition in the previous assembly.An advocate by profession, he defeated Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Gulzar Singh Moonak from the Dirba assembly seat.Two-time Barnala MLA Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer is the president of the AAP's youth wing. Hayer, 32, defeated SAD nominee Kulwant Singh Keetu. He has done B.Tech from Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering and Technology in 2012.Dr Baljit Kaur, 46, who won from Malout seat, is an eye surgeon. The daughter of former AAP MP Sadhu Singh had joined the party after resigning from her job at Muktsar civil hospital.During poll meetings, she had even examined eye patients. She has done MS in ophthalmology from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences in 2010.Dr Vijay Singla, 52, won from Mansa seat after defeating popular Punjabi singer and Congress candidate from Mansa Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu Moosewala. Singla is a dental surgeon.Lal Chand Kataruchakk, 51, got elected from the Bhoa seat in Pathankot defeating Congress' Joginder Pal. Kataruchakk, a matriculate, and who calls himself a social worker, was also president of the AAP's SC wing.Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, 60, was elected from the Ajnala assembly seat. A matriculate, Dhaliwal defeated SAD candidate Amarpal Singh.According to his poll affidavit, Dhaliwal was booked in 2019 at Rajasansi police station in Amritsar under various sections including 302 (murder) of the IPC but his arrest was stayed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.Thirty-one-year-old Harjot Bains who was elected from Anandpur Sahib was the youngest among 10 ministers. An advocate by profession, he had unsuccessfully contested from the Sahnewal assembly seat in 2017.He has a certificate in international human rights law from the London School of Economics.Laljit Singh Bhullar, 40, was elected from the Patti seat. He defeated political stalwart Adesh Partap Singh Kairon who is the son-in-law of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.An agriculturist, Bhullar had done senior secondary in 1999.Harbhajan Singh, 53, won from Jandiala seat against Punjab Congress working president Sukhwinder Singh Danny. He has been an excise and taxation officer.He had unsuccessfully contested from Jandiala seat in 2017.Another cabinet member Bram Shanker Jimpa, 56, was elected from the Hoshiarpur seat after he defeated former minister and Congress nominee Sunder Sham Arora. Jimpa, a class 12 pass, has been a councillor.Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Protem Speaker Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, AAP MLAs and family members of those who were inducted as ministers were among those present at the event.Congratulating all the newly inducted ministers, Mann tweeted, "Today the new cabinet of Punjab took the oath and at the same time pledged to fulfil the expectations of the people. Congratulations to all the new ministers. We have to work together with full sincerity for the three crore people of Punjab." The Punjab Governor administered the oath of office and secrecy to Bhagwant Mann on 16 March, 2022, who was sworn in as chief minister at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.According to the sources, the Bhagwant Mann government is likely to take the decision in the Cabinet meeting to implement one of the election promises of the Aam Admi Party (AAP).Also read: Opinion: Road for Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP won't be easy beyond PunjabMann Ki Baat: How AAP's choice for Punjab clickedAmong other poll promises of the AAP in Punjab, the national convenor of the party and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had promised to improve the condition of government schools and hospitals in the state, generate employment avenues, free electricity up to 300 units per billing cycle and also promised Rs 1,000 per month to women above 18 years.He had also promised a corruption-free government and controlling drug menace in the state.Earlier on 17 March, 2022, the Punjab chief minister announced that an anti-corruption helpline will be launched in the state on 'Shaheed Diwas (Martyr's Day)' on 23 March, 2022.Mann had said that the people will be able to lodge complaints against corruption via WhatsApp.A day after Mann assumed office, the AAP-led Punjab government took the first step towards fulfilling the promises which it had made in the run-up to the state Assembly polls – a corruption-free government and controlling drug menace in the state that shares a border with Pakistan.In the cabinet, the party gave representation to five MLAs from Malwa, four from Majha and one from the Doaba region.It has accommodated four MLAs who represent reserve constituencies -- Dirba, Jandiala, Malout and Bhoa. Besides, four are Jat Sikhs and two are Hindus.However, the AAP MLAs who defeated stalwarts, including Congress' Charanjit Singh Channi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, SAD's Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal and Punjab Lok Congress chief Amarinder Singh did not find a place in the cabinet.The AAP bagged 92 seats in the 117-member Punjab assembly, decimating the Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party combine, and the BJP-Punjab Lok Congress-SAD (Sanyukt) alliance.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.