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Journalism of Courage
Bhagwant Mann took a call on some of the names while the decision on the others was taken by Delhi. Giant killers who were considered a shoo-in were ignored; as were several visibly disappointed second-time MLAs.
There were many surprises in store as 10 MLAs took oath as ministers in AAP Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s Cabinet on Saturday at a low-key ceremony at Punjab Raj Bhawan.
Among the second-time MLAs considered front-runners for Cabinet berths but left out were Aman Arora, Sarvjit Kaur Manuke, Baljinder Kaur and Principal Budh Ram. Perhaps the most surprising omission was IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Partap, who resigned from service to join AAP and who had been introduced during the campaign by AAP convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal as future Home Minister.
Present for the oath-taking ceremony, Aman Arora — who won from Sunam a second time, with the biggest margin of 75,000 votes in the state — said: “Maybe my performance was not up to the mark, I will try to perform better.” He played down the disappointment. “I am not in any race for any post. I am just a small worker of my party.”
However, Manuke did not hide her chagrin. The MLA from Jagron, also present at the ceremony, said she did not know why she was ignored. “I am not aware of the party criteria. But I will only say that whatever the party decides, one should accept it happily.”
Principal Budh Ram, elected for the second time from Budhlada, said he had “never lobbied for any post”. “It is the party’s decision. We cannot say that seniority has been ignored. For instance, Cabinet minister Dr Baljit Kaur is daughter of former Faridkot MP Prof Sadhu Singh. They have also contributed to the party.”
Baljinder Kaur said she accepted the party’s decision.
Sources said a decision was taken to not select the giant killers, contrary to popular belief, as there were quite a few of them. “There are at least six who defeated big leaders. All could not be inducted. And the party believes it was the wave that got surprising results. It was not any individual’s achievement,” a leader said.
While Gurmeet Khuddian had defeated former CM Prakash Singh Badal, Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy defeated former Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal. Dr Jivan Jyot Kaur defeated two stalwarts in Navjot Sidhu and Bikram Majithia. Labh Singh Ughoke and Dr Charanjit Singh defeated former CM Charanjit Singh Channi from the constituencies of Bhadaur and Chamkaur Sahib respectively. A P S Kohli defeated former CM Amarinder Singh from Patiala Urban. None of them found a place in the Cabinet.
There were other reasons for the second-time MLAs to be ignored. While in the case of one, there was talk of him dabbling with the Congress and BJP a few months before elections. Baljinder Kaur was said to have not kept in touch with her constituency as MLA.
There is still hope for some of the above. With 10 ministers inducted out of a maximum of 17, Mann still has seven vacant berths he could fill.
