15 ministers, including 7 new faces, inducted in Punjab CM Channi's 1st Cabinet expansion
Chandigarh: Fifteen Cabinet Ministers, including seven new faces, were inducted in Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi led Punjab government on Sunday as the newly appointed CM carried out his first Cabinet expansion.
Among the new faces to join the Channi Ministry are Randeep Singh Nabha, Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Gurkirat Singh Kotli.
Rana Gurjit Singh whose family is into multiple businesses, including liquor distilleries and sugar mills, is not exactly a new face but has made a comeback after resigning in 2018 from the Amarinder Singh Ministry.
He had resigned from Amarinder Singh Ministry after he was accused of pocketing sand mining contracts running into several crores. At that time, he had held Irrigation and Power portfolios.
Earlier, a section of Congress leaders from the state had written to the party's Punjab unit chief Sidhu against the induction of former minister Rana Gurjit Singh, alleging he was corrupt and tainted". The leaders had also demanded that the Cabinet berth may instead be filled up "by giving representation to a clean Dalit leader".
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit also administered the oath of office and secrecy to the legislators. Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Singh Badal, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Aruna Chaudhary, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Razia Sultana, Vijay Inder Singla and Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who were ministers in the previous Amarinder Singh led Cabinet, were retained as Cabinet Ministers.
Rana Gurjit Singh, Mohindra and Singla are considered close to Amarinder Singh. As per the constitutional provisions, a total of 18 MLAs, including the chief minister, can be included in the Cabinet. Channi along with his two deputies Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni were sworn in on Monday.
Channi had taken oath as the chief minister following the unceremonious exit of Congress veteran Amarinder Singh after a prolonged power tussle with state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Meet the six new faces
Randeep Singh Nabha, 54, is an MLA from Amloh. He studied at Lawrence School Sanawar School and graduated with Economics (Hons) from Government College Chandigarh. He won, the 2002, 2007, and 2012 Assembly elections as a Congress candidate from Nabha, changed his seat to Amloh in 2017 after Nabha was declared a reserved constituency.
Raj Kumar Verka, 58, represents Amritsar West Assembly seat. The Congress' SC face in the State, is the longest-serving Vice-Chairman in the National Commission for Scheduled Castes from 2010 to 2016. Verka was also appointed Chairman of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation during the erstwhile Capt Amarinder Singh government. He has won three of the four Assembly elections contested so far.
Sangat Singh Gilzian, 68, represents Urmar Assembly seat. He was recently appointed as a PCC working president. Belonging to the Backward Class, he represents the Lubana community concentrated in certain pockets, including Urmar and nearby Bholath, Hargobindpur and Sultanpur Lodhi constituencies.
Pargat Singh, 56, represents Jalandhar Cantonment. The hockey Olympian-turned-politician was recently appointed as the general secretary of the PCC. A confidant of PCC chief Navjot Sidhu, Pargat was a vocal critic of ex-CM Capt Amarinder Singh. Pargat, who was the Director, Sports, till the end of 2011, started his politics with the SAD from Jalandhar Cantt seat. But he left the party in 2016 and went on to join the Congress.
Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, 43, represents Gidderbaha Assembly constituency. Considered close to Rahul Gandhi, Warring made his debut in the state Assembly by defeating then PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal from Gidderbaha in 2012. He was named Indian Youth Congress president in 2014. Warring retained the Assembly seat in 2017. Warring even contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Bathinda against Harsimrat Kaur Badal, but lost by a narrow margin. In 2019, he was appointed as one of then CM Capt Amarinder Singh's political advisers.
Gurkirat Singh Kotli, 48, represents Khanna Assembly segment. A third generation Cabinet minister, Kotli was first elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 2012 and then again in 2017. Kotli is grandson of former CM Beant Singh. His father Tej Parkash Singh served as the Transport Minister of the State.
