Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is all set to expand his Cabinet in the coming days. Amarinder alongwith his Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal today met the AICC team on Punjab — Dr Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Mohsina Kidwai and Ahmed Patel — and held consultations on, among other things, on the new names to be included in the Cabinet. Sources close to the Chief Minister said his 26-member Cabinet was likely to get four or five more faces in the coming days. The requisite size of the Punjab Cabinet is 18, and as such, Amarinder’s is already surplus by eight members. However, sources said AICC leaders had suggested Amarinder to be cautious on expanding the Cabinet and consult legal experts before going in for it in view of the new law. Although Amarinder and Bhattal refused to speak to the media on this, sources said that Congress leaders had also asked the Punjab leaders to bury their hatchet and work together for the coming Lok Sabha elections.
