Punjab: Bhagwant Mann to reshuffle Cabinet today, four ministers face axe, five new faces to take oath

While there was no official announcement on the reshuffle, multiple sources within the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and in the government said that four ministers have submitted their resignation letters. They include Chetan Singh Jouramajra, who held the public relations, mining and horticulture portfolios, Bram Shankar Jimpa (revenue), Balkar Singh (local bodies) and Anmol Gagan Mann (tourism).

Those likely to be inducted include Lehra MLA Barinder Kumar Goyal, Hardeep Singh Mundian (Sahnewal), Dr Ravjot Singh (Sham Chaurasi), Tarunpreet Singh Sond (Khanna) and Mohinder Bhagat (Jalandhar).

The Punjab Cabinet, including the chief minister, can have a maximum of 18 members. Currently, it has three vacancies. After Monday’s reshuffle, the Cabinet will have 16 ministers.

This will be the fourth reshuffle of the two-and-a-half year old Mann government in Punjab, and comes days after the party carried out a similar exercise in Delhi after AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal was released from the jail upon being granted bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy case.

Sources said Balkar Singh’s ouster from the Cabinet was waiting to happen especially after he was caught in a controversy during Lok Sabha elections when a sleazy video, purported to be of the minister, had surfaced.

Anmol Gagan Maan, one of the only two woman ministers in the Cabinet, meanwhile is facing huge anti-incumbency in her constituency Kharar. Only recently she had hit headlines for saying publicly that some officials were taking bribes in her name.

Sources said, Jouramajra, considered to be close to CM, has not taken his ouster kindly and was trying till late in the evening to not let go of his berth. He has been seeking to know the reason behind his ouster.

The removal of Jimpa, however, has come as a surprise, even to the AAP leaders. Jimpa was considered a leader who performed as a minister and remained away from any controversy.

Among the new inductees, it is learnt that Barinder Goyal is being given a berth to give representation to the Bania community. Mann’s Cabinet had initially given representation to the community by inducting Dr Vijay Singla. However, after Singla was sacked as health minister and jailed on corruption charges, the Bania community had been raising questions.

Goyal is a first-time MLA and had emerged as a giant killer in 2022 state polls defeating five-time Lehra MLA and former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Congress), and another five-time MLA and former finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa.

Tarunpreet Sond, considered a young Turk, too is a first time MLA and had won from Khanna by defeating then Industries Minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli. It was a comprehensive win for Sond, a class 12 graduate as Kotli — a grandson of former chief minister Beant Singh — lost his security deposit. Prior to 2022 polls, Kotli had won from Khanna Khanna in 2012 and 2017.

Mundian is a congress turncoat who had joined the AAP just months before the 2022 Assembly polls. He was in the news for the right reasons after inaugurating a sewing machine training centre at his office where about 100 girls and women are being given training free cost.

In Ravjot Singh, the Cabinet will get its third doctor — the other two being Dr Baljit Kaur and Dr Balbir Singh. An MD in medicine from PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr Ravjot too is a first time MLA — he had unsuccessfully contested 2017 Assembly polls and 2019 Lok Sabha polls as AAP candidate. During the 2022 polls, he had listed eradication of drug abuse as his top priority.

Bhagat’s induction was a given considering that CM Mann had himself announced that if he wins the byelection from Jalandhar (West), he would be accommodated in the Council of Ministers.

Both Dr Ravjot and Bhagat are from Scheduled Caste community. In the current Cabinet, Mann had four SC members, and 11 from the general category. One SC member, Balkar Singh, is being dropped. With the induction of Dr Ravjot and Bhagat, the Cabinet will now have five SC ministers.

The other Cabinemt mebers from SC community include Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Women and Child Development Minister Dr Baljit Kaur, and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak.

This is the fourt cabinet expansion being carried out by CM Mann. On July 4, 2022, he had inducted Aman Arora, Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, Fauja Singh Sarari, Chetan Singh Jouramajra and , Anmol Gagan Maan as ministers. Later, on January 7, 2023, Sarari resigned and Dr Balbir Singh was inducted as health minister.

Four months later, on May 31, 2023, Nijjar was dropped from the Cabinet and Balkar Singh and Gurmeet Singh Khuddian were sworn in as ministers.