Punjab cabinet under CM Charanjit Singh Channi finalised, swearing-in ceremony to be held tomorrow

Following a meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday night, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s new cabinet has been finalised. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 4.30 pm on Sunday in Chandigarh.

The chief minister met the Governor of Punjab at Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh on Saturday afternoon to seal the new list of ministers.

WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT

According to sources, the following have been included in Punjab's new cabinet: Raj Kumar Verka, Kuljit Nagra, Pargat Singh, Gurkirat Singh Kotli and Raja Warring among others.

On the other hand, the following ministers from Captain Amarinder Singh's cabinet have been dropped from CM Channi's cabinet as per sources: Balbir Sidhu, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, Gurpreet Singh Kangar and SS Arora.

Sports minister Rana Gurmeet Sodhi and social justice empowerment minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot are considered to be staunch Captain Amarinder loyalists.

HECTIC DELIBERATIONS

In the six days since he became the chief minister, Charanjit Singh Channi has visited Delhi three times. Hectic deliberations were underway among top party leaders before the new Punjab cabinet was finalised.

He was summoned to Delhi by the Congress high command on Friday in order to discuss the expansion of the cabinet. This was just hours after he had returned to Punjab from the national capital.

Last week, months of infighting within Punjab Congress finally resulted in Captain Amarinder Singh resigning as the chief minister and the party high command appointing Charanjit Singh Channi as the fresh face. He is the first Dalit chief minister in Punjab.

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