The CM also tweeted the names of the MLAs to be included in the Cabinet and congratulated them, on Friday evening.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday announced its Council of Ministers in Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s Cabinet, while nominating party MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan as the next speaker of the 117-member Assembly.
The ceremony to induct these ministers is scheduled for 11 am at Chandigarh on Saturday. Once the ministers are sworn in, they will assume charge in the Punjab Civil Secretariat, and later participate in the first meeting of the AAP government at 12.30 pm. Important decisions regarding bringing a Vote on Account budget and a new excise policy are expected to be taken up for discussion.
Except former leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, who is a second time MLA from Dirba, and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who won a second term from Barnala, the rest eight ministers are first-time MLAs.
Those who Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has chosen to be in his team are Harpal Cheema (Dirba), Dr Baljit Kaur (Malout), Harbhajan Singh ETO (Jandiala) Dr Vijay Singla (Mansa), Lal Chand Kataruchak (Bhoa), Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (Barnala), Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (Ajnala), Laljit Singh Bhullar (Patti), Brahm Shankar (Hoshiarpur) and Harjot Singh Bains (Anandpur Sahib).
The CM also tweeted the names of the MLAs to be included in the Cabinet and congratulated them, on Friday evening.
Five of the designate ministers are from Malwa, four from Majha and one from Doaba. Also, two of the designate ministers are doctors.
Mann can have a total of 17 ministers. Some expected names of senior leaders have been left out, including two-time Sunam MLA Aman Arora — who has won the Assembly election by the biggest margin — former IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh and giant slayers like Lab Singh Ugoke, who defeated former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi from Bhadaur and Dr Jeevan Jyot Kaur, who defeated Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bikram Singh Majithia at the hot seat Majitha.
Overall, the AAP won 92 seats in the Punjab assembly elections, while the Congress, which won 77 seats in the 2017 polls, was a distant second, bagging just 18 seats. The border state went to polls on February 20, and the counting of votes took place on March 10.
