Bhagwant Mann to expand his cabinet today, 5-6 new ministers, including women, likely to join

The Punjab cabinet expansion is going to happen at a time when AAP has lost the Sangrur Lok Sabha by-election recently, ANI reported.

Punjab cabinet expansion: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government is all set for its first cabinet to revamp. The oath-taking ceremony of the new Ministers will be held at Raj Bhawan at 5 pm on Monday, reported ANI. The cabinet expansion comes after bypoll results in various constituencies and a criminal case of one of the key ministers in the Bhagwant Mann cabinet. The names of the new ministers, who will be inducted into the revised Punjab cabinet have not been revealed, yet. However, CM Mann reached Delhi last week to meet Arvind Kejriwal. ANI reported quoting sources that both AAP leaders held talks on the Punjab cabinet expansion.

However, on being asked about the closed-door meeting with Kejriwal, Mann, who is often accused of running a remote-control government in the hands of Delhi CM, told ANI "there was no discussion about cabinet expansion in the meeting with Arvind Kejriwal, we will decide on it in Punjab".

The announcement of the Punjab cabinet government revamp came hours after the Mann-Kejriwal Delhi meeting.

AAP lost Bhagwant Maan’s bastion constituency Sangrur

This cabinet expansion is going to happen at a time when AAP has lost the Sangrur Lok Sabha by-election recently and civic elections are also to be held in Punjab in the coming times. In such a situation, it is believed that in this cabinet expansion, efforts will also be made to harmonize accordingly.

Punjab cabinet expansion- What changes are expected

According to sources, Dwaba and Majha regions can also be represented in this cabinet expansion, because most of the Ministers in the current cabinet of the Bhagwant Mann government are from the Malwa region.

Sources told ANI that a total of 5 to 6 new ministers, including a woman MLA, are likely to take oath on Monday. At present, Dr Baljit Kaur is the only woman minister in the Bhagwant Mann government.

Jeevanjot Kaur from Amritsar East and Sarvjit Kaur Manuke from Jagrao are among the names that are surfacing for the new female face.

According to sources, the name of Aman Arora, MLA from Sunam, is in the forefront of the names that are being discussed. It is also believed that the portfolios of some ministers can also be changed.

Further, the names of Amritsar South MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar, Fauja Singh Sarari, MLA from Guru Har Sahai, and Samana MLA Chetan Singh Joramajra are also humming around.

Presently, there are only 9 ministers in Bhagwant Mann's cabinet owing to the removal of Health Minister Vijay Singla in the corruption case.

(With ANI inputs)