Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Keeps Cabinet Lean, First-timers Dominate; Oath-taking on Saturday

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann indicated that he wanted his new cabinet to be lean as only 10 ministers, against 17 vacancies, will be taking oath at the swearing-in ceremony on Saturday. For now, the cabinet will have only one woman while the remaining 10, including Mann, are all men. Among those chosen, only two have been elected for a second term. The remaining eight chosen by the CM are first-time MLAs.

Soon after the ministers are sworn in at Punjab Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh on Saturday, they will assume charge in the Punjab civil secretariat and later take part in their first meeting. Mann, who was sworn in at freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village Khatkar Kalan on March 16, tweeted about his new cabinet.

In Punjabi, he said: “Punjab’s new cabinet will be sworn in tomorrow. Congratulations to all the future Ministers of Punjab. The people of Punjab have given us all a huge responsibility, we have to work day and night to serve the people and give an honest government. We want to create a colorful Punjab.”

Party leaders said Mann wanted to maintain a slim cabinet and, hence, apart from himself he was only inducting 10 ministers immediately. The chosen ones include Harpal Cheema (MLA from Dirba), Dr Baljit Kaur (Malout), Harbhajan Singh ‘ETO’ (Jandiala), Dr Vijay Singla (Mansa), Lal Chand Kataruchak (Bhoa), Gurmeet Singh ‘Meet’ Hayer (Barnala), Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (Ajnala), Laljit Singh Bhullar (Patti), Brahm Shankar (Hoshiarpur) and Harjot Singh Bains (Anandpur Sahib).

Considering the three regions of Punjab, five ministers are from Malwa, four from Majha and one from Doaba.

The portfolios have not yet been announced. Surprisingly, second-time MLA from Sunam, Aman Arora, who won by the highest margin of over 70,000 votes, has not found a place in the cabinet yet. There are seven slots that can still be filled.

According to party sources, the names have been decided after a series of discussions between Mann and the top brass of the AAP. The chief minister prevailed upon the party high command in choosing his team, sources added.

Sources said though there was intense lobbying from some MLAs, including a second-time woman legislator and a first-time MLA from Majha region, Mann is believed to have been keen on a lean cabinet initially.

At their first meeting, which will be held at 12.30 pm, the new cabinet is likely to discuss important issues such as vote on account budget and a new excise policy, sources said.

Know the cabinet

Of the two second-time MLAs in the cabinet, Harpal Cheema remained the leader of the opposition in the previous assembly. Cheema is a qualified lawyer.

Hayer is MLA from Barnala, heartland of the Malwa region, which has 69 assembly seats of Punjab’s 117. The AAP won 66 of these 69 seats, while almost all of its 20 seats last time had also come from this region. This area is also considered to be Mann’s pocket borough.

The lone woman in the cabinet, Dr Baljit Kaur from Malout in southern Punjab, is a state awardee eye surgeon and daughter of former AAP MP Prof Sadhu Singh. The other doctor on the cabinet list is Vijay Singla, a dentist who defeated singer Sidhu Moosewala from Mansa.

Among the first-time MLAs is another lawyer, Harjot Singh Bains, who lost from Sahnewal segment in 2017 but has now won from Anandpur Sahib. At 31 years, he will be the youngest in the cabinet. Bains is one of the five ministers from Malwa.

None of those who defeated the top leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress has found a place in the cabinet so far.

However, Laljit Bhullar has defeated a political clan member, former CM Parkash Singh Badal’s son-in-law Adaish Partap Singh Kairon, from Patti. A former minister in Badal’s cabinet and four-time MLA, Adaish Partap is a grandson of Congress veteran late Partap Singh Kairon, a freedom fighter who was CM of post-partition undivided Punjab.

Bhullar is one of the four ministers from Majha region. Another is Ajnala’s Kuldeep Dhaliwal, who had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election on an AAP ticket in 2019. The other two from Majha are Bhoa MLA Lalchand and Jandiala’s Harbhajan Singh. A former Punjab civil services officer, Harbhajan Singh had served as excise and taxation officer or ETO before joining politics. Hence, he carries the moniker “ETO”. Kataruchak is the president of the AAP’s scheduled caste wing in Punjab.

Representing Doaba region, Brahm Shankar has for long been a councillor in Hoshiarpur.

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