The new ministers of Punjab will take oath in Chandigarh at 4.30 pm today. However, the Punjab Congress has once again caught itself in a crisis as six MLAs from Punjab’s Doaba region along with senior leader Mohinder Singh KP have opposed Rana Gurjit Singh induction into the cabinet.
It is being learnt that these seven congress leaders which include Sukhpal Khair, Raj Kumar Chabbewal, Pawan Adya, Navtej Cheema, Bawa Henry, Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal and Mohinder Singh KP have reportedly raised objections over Rana Gurjit’s induction. They have written a letter opposing Rana Gurjit’s name to PPCC President Navjot Sidhu and is expected to meet him regarding the same.
Sources say that these MLAs have been opposing Rana Gurjit’s name over his alleged involvement in sand mining case. In the letter, the congress leaders said, "Rana Gurjit’s induction into the cabinet will affect party’s poll prospects as there is huge resentment amongst the public and the congress cadre due to his alleged involvement in the infamous mining scandal".
CM Charanjit Singh Channi kept talking to the Congress high command till late Saturday night regarding the new tussle. It was Channi’s fourth meeting with Rahul Gandhi since he took oath on Monday.
The new faces of the Channi cabinet have not been officially announced yet but if sources are to be believed as many as seven new faces will take oath today as Cabinet Ministers.
The list of ministers has been finalized. Among the names that were stamped in the final list, eight were in the cabinet during the Captain government and five, who are loyal to Captain Amarinder Singh, have been dropped.
Rana Gurjit was also a cabinet minister in former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh’s cabinet, who was sacked from Amarinder Singh's cabinet over allegations of sand mining contracts in the names of his employees.
As per the sources, new entries in the Punjab cabinet are Raja Warring from Gidderbaha, three-time MLA from Amritsar -West Dr Raj Kumar Verka, three-time MLA from Urmar Sangat Singh Gilzian, former minister and MLA from Jalandhar Cantt Pargat Singh, two-time MLA from Fatehgarh Sahib Kuljit Nagra, two-time MLA from Khanna Gurkirat Kotli and Former Irrigation Minister and MLA from Kapurthala Rana Gurjit Singh.
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Manpreet Badal, Vijayindra Singla, Razia Sultana, Brahm Mohindra, Aruna Chaudhary, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Tript Rajinder Bajwa and Sukh Sarkaria, are likely to return to the cabinet.