Sukhjinder Randhawa, Brahm Mohindra to be Deputy CMs of Punjab: AICC Treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal

AICC Treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal, through a tweet, confirmed late night the names and congratulated the two leaders for their elevation as Deputy CMs of Punjab.

Chandigarh: AICC Treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal has confirmed that Sukhjinder Randhawa and Brahm Mohindra will be the two new Deputy Chief Ministers of Punjab.

Bansal, through a tweet, confirmed the names and congratulated the two leaders for their elevation as Deputy CMs of Punjab. 

"Heartiest congratulations to @Charnjit_channi for elevation as #PunjabCM and @BrahmMohindra & @Sukhjinder_INC  as Dy CMs. Best wishes for their grand success in the service of Punjab under the leadership of Smt.Sonia Gandhi and Sh @RahulGandhi,'' Bansal tweeted.

Heartiest congratulations to @Charnjit_channi for elevation as #PunjabCM and @BrahmMohindra & @Sukhjinder_INC as Dy CMs. Best wishes for their grand success in the service of Punjab under the leadership of Smt.Sonia Gandhi and Sh.@RahulGandhi. — Pawan Kumar Bansal (@pawanbansal_chd) September 19, 2021

Sukhjinder Randhawa was also the frontrunner for the post just a few hours before Channi’s appointment but was given the post of Deputy chief minister along with Brahm Mohindra.

Senior Congress leader and the party’s state in-charge Harish Rawat had on Sunday night confirmed that there will be two Deputy Chief Ministers in Punjab. The announcement came shortly after the Congress high command announced Charanjit Singh Channi as the new Chief Minister of Punjab.

Speaking to reporters, Harish Rawat said, "There will be two Deputy Chief Ministers in the Punjab government. There is a Sikh community in the state, so now one Deputy Chief Minister will be from Jat Sikh community and the other will be from the Hindu community."

Sources said among two Deputy chief ministers; one will be a Jat Sikh for which MLA from Dera Baba Nanak Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa`s name is being considered while from Hindu community probables include Brahm Singh Mohindra (MLA from Patiala rural), Vijay Inder Singla (MLA from Sangrur) and Bharat Bhushan Ashu (Punjab Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs Minister).

If the second name of Deputy Chief Minister gets finalised then along with Channi, two Deputy CMs will take the oath on Monday. However, if the decision on Deputy CMs is delayed then they will be administered the oath later, the sources added. 

Charanjit Singh Channi is scheduled to take the oath at 11 am on Monday as the 16th Chief Minister of the state. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is unlikely to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Charanjit Singh Channi as Punjab`s new Chief Minister in Chandigarh, sources said.

They further informed that the gathering at the ceremony will be small consisting of 40 people. Amarinder Singh on Saturday stepped down from the post of Punjab Chief Minister following months of infighting between him and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. 

He submitted his resignation to state Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Singh, after his resignation, said that he felt "humiliated" adding that he had been summoned thrice by the central leadership in the past two months.

These developments came months before the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections. Earlier on Sunday, Congress` in charge of Punjab Harish Rawat said Channi has been unanimously elected as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party and is set to take over as next chief minister.

"It gives me immense pleasure to announce that Sh. Charanjit Singh Channi has been unanimously elected as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party of Punjab," tweeted Rawat.