AAP Punjab Welcomes 5 new Ministers as Mann-led Cabinet Expands

On Monday-4th July, 5 AAP MLAs were inducted as ministers in the Punjab government  as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expanded his cabinet. This induction marked AAP Punjab Government first cabinet expansion ever since it came to power in the state earlier this year

The State Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office to the newly inducted MLAs at Guru Nanak Dev Auditorium of Punjab Raj BhawanThe ministers took oath in Punjabi. Arora was the first one to take oath as cabinet minister, followed by Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar-MLA from Amritsar South seat. Later, Fauja Singh Sarari from Guru Har Sahai region, Chetan Singh Jourmajra, MLA from Samana, and Kharar legislator Anmol Gagan Mann took oath

 Of the five new cabinet ministers, four MLAs are from the Malwa region and one is from the Majha area. The induction of five more ministers has brought the strength of the Punjab cabinet will to 15, including the chief minister. In picking the new entrants to the Mann cabinet, the AAP took into consideration caste, gender, region and religion. 

As part of giving more representation to women, Anmol Gagan Mann, the MLA from Kharar was inducte dinto the cabinet. She is the second woman in the Bhagwant Mann-led cabinet. Aman Arora is a second-term MLA and had won the recent Assembly election with the highest margin of a staggering 75,000 votes. Dr Nijjar, president of Chief Khalsa Diwan, was formely made the Pro Tem Speaker before Kultar Singh Sandhwan was elected as the Vidhan Sabha Speaker.

Jouramajra is from the politically important Patiala district. With the expansion, 5 of the 8 vacant slots in the state cabinet co have been filled. In May, Health Minister Vijay Singla was removed from the state cabinet over corruption charges, reducing the strength of ministers to nine in the Cabinet. The Punjab CM Mann talking to the reporters said all ministers will work honestly and in a transparent manner. He further added that he has a lot of burden on him as he has too many portfolios with him.