10 Ministers took oath in the new Punjab government. (Photo: Twitter/Bhagwant Mann)Punjab Cabinet swearing-in Live Updates: In its first decision, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Saturday approved filling up 25,000 posts in various state government departments, including 10,000 in the police force. Mann announced the decision in a video message after he chairing his first cabinet meeting. “As we promised before the election, jobs opportunities for our Punjab’s youth will be the topmost priority of AAP government,” he said.
The ten Ministers inducted into Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s Cabinet Saturday have identified various issues to work upon during their tenure. Speaking to news agency ANI, Dr Vijay Singla called upon the Opposition’s support for reforms in Punjab. “There are various issues such as drug addiction and unemployment that are yet to be solved and we will have to work on all of them,” Singla said.
Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said, “People have voted for us because they were annoyed by a corrupt system in Punjab. We will have to uproot corruption.” Harjot Singh Bains, the youngest MLA to take the oath, added, “Arvind Kejriwal brought back the trust of youth in politics… We’ll develop a ‘Punjab model’ and in 2024, make Kejriwal the Prime Minister of the country.” Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, meanwhile, said his priority would be to work on education and health.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann (Express Photo)
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann announces 25,000 govt jobs for the youth of the state. Advertisements to be issued shortly.
Cabinet ministers with Punjab CM and Governor after taking oath at Punjab Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh on Saturday. (Express photo by Jaipal Singh)
Several AAP MLAs who emerged as giant killers by defeating political stalwarts of rival parties in the Punjab Assembly polls did not find a place in Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's cabinet. Among these are Labh Singh Ugoke, who defeated former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi in the Bhadaur assembly segment by a margin of 37,558 votes, and Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, who beat Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Parkash Singh Badal in his traditional Lambi seat by 11,396 votes. While Ugoke once ran a mobile repair shop, Khuddian had joined the AAP after quitting the Congress last year. Jeevanjyot Kaur (50), a social activist, won from the Amritsar East seat, defeating former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia from the Amritsar East seat. Charanjit Singh, an eye surgeon, made Channi bite the dust in his home constituency Chamkaur Sahib. --PTI
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's first cabinet meeting in Chandigarh.
Punjab Cabinet approves 25,000 jobs in government departments, boards and corporations. In a pre-poll promise, Bhagwant Mann had said jobs in public sector would be the first decision of his government. The Cabinet also approved Vote on Account for a period of three months till June 30, 2022.
"Many congratulations to all the new ministers of Punjab. The people of Punjab have high hopes for all of you. Work with full sincerity and hard work to take Punjab on the path of progress. God is with you," the Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.
Congratulating the newly-inducted Ministers to the Punjab Cabinet, CM Bhagwant Mann said, "We have to work together with full sincerity for the 3 crore people of Punjab and make Punjab golden again."
As Bhagwant Mann took oath as the 18th chief minister of Punjab at Kahtar Kalan, the ancestral village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh in Nawanshahr, sitting among thousands of supporters, in a sea of basanti, was a beaming Mohammad Sadiq, the Congress MP from Faridkot.
On two sides of the political divide, Sadiq and Mann share a common thread — both are artiste-turned-politicians. While Mann has had a successful stint as a stand-up comic and an actor, the Congress leader is a renowned Punjabi singer. Read more
With Delhi in its pocket and having made history with the Punjab Assembly election win, the Aam Aadmi Party has started making moves in Haryana, a state sandwiched in between and a natural corollary to the two, as well as the home state of its convenor and leader Arvind Kejriwal.
The party, which got barely 60,000 votes contesting 46 of the 90 Assembly seats in the 2019 Vidhan Sabha elections, claims to have already created a base at the ground level in Haryana. In the past few days, several high-profile names have crossed sides. “We have opened offices in all the 22 districts and Assembly constituencies. Very soon, a membership drive shall be launched,” says AAP Haryana in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta, adding that the party already has an estimated 10 lakh members in the state and will contest the coming municipal and panchayat polls in Haryana on the party symbol. “AAP will emerge as a political alternative to the BJP and Congress,” Gupta says. Read more
Newly-inducted Minister Brahm Shanker Jimpa told ANI, "There are lots of issues (in Punjab) -- health services are very poor. We'll work for the improvement (of the state). We have got a decrepit Punjab. It'll take some time but a change will surely come."
Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, the newly-inducted Minister in Punjab Cabinet, told ANI, "I come from an under-developed region of the state and my priority would be to work on education and health."
A year after joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), 56-year-old Pandit Brahm Shanker Jimpa, formerly a staunch Congressman and a four-time municipal councillor (MC), is now among the 10 newly inducted Cabinet ministers in the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in Punjab.
In 2021, the three-time Congress Councillor was denied the MC ticket by the party during the municipal polls, after which he contested as an Independent and won for the fourth time in a row. Read more
Supporters gathered outside the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh to greet the newly-inducted Ministers with flower bouquets.
"There are various issues such as drug addiction and unemployment that are yet to be solved and we will have to work on all of them. We will be requiring the Opposition's support if we have to progress in Punjab," newly-inducted Minister Dr Vijay Singla was quoted as saying by ANI.
Harjot Singh Bains, the youngest MLA to take the oath, told ANI, “Arvind Kejriwal brought back the trust of youth in politics… We’ll develop a ‘Punjab model’ and in 2024, make Kejriwal the Prime Minister of the country.”
Speaking to news agency ANI, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said, "People have voted for us because they were annoyed by a corrupt system in Punjab. We will have to uproot corruption."
"I was a servant of the public earlier and even now I'm a servant. Common people like us, who might have not even thought of becoming a minister, have become ministers. We will fulfil all the promises," newly inducted Minister Harpal Singh Cheema told ANI.
Dr Baljit Kaur, the only woman to be inducted into the Mann Cabinet, stated that she will work for the development of women and the health sector.
Speaking to ANI, prior to the swearing-in ceremony, Kaur said, "I thank people of Punjab and party high command. It is AAP's good mindset that they've included a woman in the Cabinet. I'll carry out all my duties honestly."
10 Ministers were sworn into the Punjab Cabinet Saturday, including second-time MLAs like Harpal Singh Cheema and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, as well as first-timers like Dr Baljit Kaur, Dr Vijay Singla and Lal Chand Kataru Chak.
Bhoa MLA Lal Chand Kataruchak was AAP’s halka in-charge of the constituency. A matriculate, he is 47 years old.
Laljit Singh Bhullar, who defeated former CM Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, son-in-law of former CM Parkash Singh Badal from Patti, was sworn in.
Following this, Brahm Shankar Jimpa, the first time MLA from Hoshiarpur, who defeated former Industries Minister, Sunder Sham Arora was sworn in. Youngest MLA Harjot Singh Bains took the oath next. The 31-year-old was the founding President of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab at the age of 23. He is a practicing lawyer in Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who won a second term from Barnala and Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal, a first time MLA from Ajnala, were sworn in by the Punjab Governor.
Bhoa MLA Lal Chand Kataruchak was sworn in by the Punjab governor on Saturday. A matriculate, he is 47 years old.
Harbhajan Singh ETO and Dr Vijay Singla took the oath as ministers in the Punjab Cabinet at the Raj Bhawan Saturday.
The ceremony began with the former leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, who is a second time MLA from Dirba, taking the oath. Following this, Dr Baljit Kaur took the oath.
Kultar Singh Sandhwan, a two-time MLA from Kotkapura, has been announced as the Speaker of the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha by the Aam Aadmi Party. Meanwhile, Harjot Bains, MLA from Anandpur Sahib, will be sworn in as minister in the Punjab Cabinet.
Kultar Singh Sandhwan (R, in yellow) and Harjot Bains (L, in black) arrive at the venue. (Express Photo)
Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who won a second term from Barnala, and Harbhajan Singh ETO, the MLA from Jandiala, have arrived at the venue for the swearing-in ceremony.
The swearing-in ceremony of the Cabinet will take place at the newly-inaugurated Guru Nanak auditorium at the Punjab Raj Bhawan. In the first row, the MLAs who would be taking oath as ministers in a few minutes from now are seated.
Express Photo
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s son Dilshan Mann and daughter Seerat Mann arrived at the venue in Chandigarh. The swearing-in ceremony is being held at the newly inaugurated Guru Nanak auditorium in the Punjab Raj Bhawan.
Former leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, who is a second time MLA from Dirba, arrived at the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh with his family for the swearing-in ceremony.
Two doctors will take oath as ministers in the Punjab Cabinet today -- Dr Vijay Singla, who is a dentist and Dr Baljit Kaur, the only woman minister in the Mann's Cabinet. Kaur is an award-winning eye surgeon and daughter of former Faridkot MP Prof Sadh.
Dr Vijay Singla, a dentist, had defeated popular Punjabi singer and Congress nominee Sidhu Moosewala in the Punjab elections.
Singla, from Mansa, arrived at the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh with his family.
Express Photos by Jaipal Singh
As new faces made it to Punjab Vidhan Sabha after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a resounding victory winning 92 of 117 seats, help desks were set up in the Assembly to make the new legislators feel at home. Inside, it was a picture in contrast where Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the former transport minister who managed to pull out a victory among 18 Congress legislators, was seen humbly folding hands to ruling AAP leadership as he proceeded to take oath as an MLA.
The new formation has opposition talking. Congress legislator Pratap Singh Bajwa who got elected from Qadian and has the distinction of being party of Congress group of 18 in Vidhan Sabha while talking to The Indian Express said that constitutionally the AAP government should ensure at least a hundred-day session a year now.
Bajwa added, “The reason for having long sessions is that majority of the AAP MLA, 80 percent of them have entered Vidhan Sabha for the first time. None of the MLAs and the chief minister has any experience of ministry. They are completely raw. Only if there is long session, they will have experience of rules and regulations of Vidhan Sabha.. They will study, research and learn about their departments.” Read more
10 AAP MLAs are set to be sworn in as ministers in Bhagwant Mann's Cabinet in Chandigarh today. The ceremony will begin at 11 am.
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The entrance of the hall where ministers in the Punjab Cabinet will take oath at the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh. (Express photo by Jaipal Singh)
Announcing the names of the 10 MLAs who will be sworn in as ministers in the Punjab Cabinet, CM Bhagwant Mann said, "The people of Punjab have given a lot of responsibility to all of us, we have to serve the people by working hard day and night and give an honest government to Punjab. We have to make 'Rangla Punjab'".
The day after he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann set the tone for the new Aam Aadmi Party government in the state by declaring on Thursday that he will launch an anti-corruption helpline on his “personal WhatsApp number”, where people can send audio and video clips of officials seeking bribes, and said that “no corrupt official would be spared”.
Mann’s announcement came on a day when 112 of Punjab’s 117 newly elected MLAs were sworn in by pro tem Speaker Inderbir Singh Nijjer on the first day of a three-day Assembly session. The helpline, he said, will be launched on March 23, which marks the death anniversary of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. Read more
A day after resigning as Punjab Congress Chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu hailed Punjab’s new Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, stating that he would unfurl “a new anti-Mafia era” in the state.
Mann took oath as the 18th Chief Minister of Punjab on Wednesday at Khatkar Kalan, the native village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. Read more
Having given the party a thumping mandate, the people of Punjab have extraordinarily high expectations from the new AAP government. The party must contend with this burden of hope. It cannot be politics as usual for the Mann government. But getting Punjab back on track is going to be an arduous and uphill task. The state needs a well thought out roadmap, not a hastily scribbled plan with easy or short-lived gains. While it will be tempting to take the populist route, the government will need to summon the resolve and the wisdom to sidestep it. With a leader who is seen to have a clean image at the helm, the party will need to use all the political capital and space it has achieved by its decisive victory to take the hard measures while taking the people into confidence. Read more
Two days after the AAP’s Bhagwant Mann took over as chief minister of Punjab, the photograph of the revolutionary Bhagat Singh installed at his office has run into a controversy. Mann—who chose Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village, Khatkar Kalan in Nawanshahr district, to take his oath—has always idolised Bhagat Singh, expressing that he wants to create a Punjab that the freedom fighter had dreamt of. However, the basanti (yellow) turban Bhagat Singh is seen wearing in the photo is being objected to, primarily for the photo’s lack of authenticity. However, according to Bhagat Singh’s family, what should matter is his vision, not the colour of his turban in the picture. What is the objection to Bhagat Singh’s photograph installed at CM’s office? We explain
None of the giant killers -- apart from Dr Vijay Singla -- who defeated big guns of other political parties have found a place in Mann’s cabinet.
Gurmeet Singh Khuddian had defeated former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, while Jagdeep Singh Kamboj Goldy got the better of former Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal. Dr Charanjit Singh (Chamkaur Sahib) and Labh Singh Ughoke (Bhadaur), who defeated former CM Charanjit Singh Channi from the respective seats he contested from were surprisingly ignored in the first list. Also, the name of Ajit Pal Singh Kohli who trounced Capt Amarinder Singh from Patiala Urban is not there.
The party has also ignored most of the second-timers. Sunam MLA Aman Arora, who won with the biggest margin of over 70,000 votes in the state, has also been ignored.
AAP finalised the names for Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's Cabinet ignoring all giant-killers and most of second-timers, except two -- Harpal Singh Cheema and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer.
The first-timers are: Dr Baljit Kaur from Malout, Harbhajan Singh ETO from Jandiala, Dr Vijay Singla from Mansa, Dr Lal Chand Kataru Chak from Bhoa, Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal from Ajnala, Laljit Singh Bhullar from Patti, Bram Shankar (Jimpa) from Hoshiarpur and Harjot Singh Bains from Anandpur Sahib.
Dr Vijay Singla had defeated Congress candidate and popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
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The 10 AAP MLAs finalised by the party as ministers in Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's Cabinet are set to take oath today. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates!