Ten ministers joined the cabinet of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The newly elected MLAs of AAP took oath as ministers in Chandigarh on Saturday. Only two leaders, who became MLAs for the second time in the Bhagwant Mann cabinet, have been given a place in the cabinet. At the same time, AAP leaders, who defeated the veterans in the Punjab elections, have not got a place in the cabinet, on which the opposition has taken a jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party.
Aman Arora, MLA from Sunam assembly seat, who won the Punjab elections by the biggest margin of 75227 thousand votes, also did not find a place in the cabinet. When Aman Arora was asked about this, he replied, “Why I was not made a minister, you ask the high command, maybe I must have been missing something.” Aman Arora dismissed any resentment and said that it is the prerogative of the Chief Minister who he makes ministers and who gives what portfolio.
Gurmeet Singh Khudian, who defeated five-time CM and Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, has also not found a place in the Mann cabinet. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, who won the Lambi assembly seat by 11,396 votes, is the son of former MP Jagdev Singh Khudian. Khudiyan was earlier in the Congress party. However, only last year he had joined the Aam Aadmi Party and the party fielded him against Parkash Singh Badal.
Similarly, Labh Singh Ugoke, who defeated the then CM Charanjit Singh Channi from Bhadaur, has also not found a place in the Mann cabinet. Labh Singh Ugoke, who defeated Channi by a margin of about 37 thousand votes, runs a mobile repair shop. Labh Singh was associated with the Aam Aadmi Party in 2013 and contested against the then CM Channi in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections.
Out of 10 ministers who joined Bhagwant Mann’s cabinet, 8 ministers have come as MLAs for the first time. Dr. Baljit Kaur is the only woman minister from Malout in the Bhagwant Mann cabinet. CM Bhagwant Mann’s cabinet includes 3 Jat Sikh and 4 Dalit faces.