AfterPunjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on July 6 met Congress chief SoniaGandhi, speculation of a possible Cabinet reshuffle to accommodate allsections, have re-emerged. Sources say before Punjab goes for elections earlynext year, the party high command has been seeking ‘restoration of the regionaland caste balance’ in the Cabinet.
AsPunjab is having over 33 per cent Dalit population, and Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) had already announced its alliance with Mayawati’s party, thereforediscussions are on in Congress to give more representation to leaders from theSC community in the Cabinet and also if more tickets should be given to suchleaders in the upcoming elections.
Thereare 18 Cabinet berths in all. The slot vacated by Amristar MLA Navjot SinghSidhu is still vacant. Thus, the possible Cabinet reshuffle could see a Dalitor OBC face being inducted and a minister from Malwa or Majha being dropped.
Asenior congress leader when asked whether cabinet rejig would favour congressor not, on condition of anonymity, he replied that the reshuffle would only besignificant if the disgruntled leader Navjot Sidhu is given a prominent role inthe party or the government.
Healso said its high time Congress needs to work on the ground as damage hasalready been done. “The congress has yet not delivered its major poll promisesbe it jobs, sacrilege issue or ending drug mafia”, he added.
Moreover,the High Command has already cleared that the upcoming assembly elections inthe state will be contested under the patronage of Capt Amarinder Singh asmajority of the Congress leaders including MPs and MLAs of the state unit arein his favor.
Thus, within a week or two, a significant announcement can be made by Punjab CMbeginning from the implementation of the 18 points peace broker formula to theCabinet rejig.
Sourcesfurther suggested that Capt Amarinder is keen on having a non-Sikh face as thestate Congress president but the party high command could seek more changeswhile giving Sidhu an important role.
Notably,Punjab CM Capt Amarinder after meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi hadalso met Election Strategist Prashant Kishor to give a final shape to the truceformula to end the longstanding feud in the party.
Besides,Prashant Kishor will make the ground visits to assess the issues faced by thepublic so an aggressive campaign could be established for the party. It hasalso been asserted by the sources that Mr Kishor’s team will deliberate overthe tickets’ give-away to the deserving leaders so people’s grievances could betimely addressed.