After hectic lobbying and meetings with Congress High Command, Punjab CM Charanjit Channi has finally decided the names of new cabinet ministers.
The cabinet will have seven new members, with five ministers from Amarinder Singh's cabinet being sacked.
Rana Gurjeet, Pargat Singh, Raj Kumar Verka, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Kuljit Singh Nagra are among the newcomers in the newly formed
Charanjit Channi’s government.
Rana Gurjeet Singh:
MLA from Kapurthala constituency, Rana Gurjeet Singh was considered a close aide of Capt Amrinder Singh. However, he was sacked from Capt’s cabinet after his name emerged in land
mafia case.
Rana Gurjeet then joined hands with Navjot Singh Sidhu camp and is now re-appointed in the cabinet of ministers.
Pargat Singh:
The former Indian hockey team Captain, Olympian Pargat Singh is a close confidant of Punjab PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. MLA Pargat Singh runs from Jalandhar Cantt constituency and
is general secretary of the Punjab Parishad Congress Committee.
The outspoken Congress leader is one of the firsts to publically criticize former state Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and played a significant role in his removal.
Raj Kumar Verka:
The Congress leader is an MLA from Amritsar West. He has served on the National Commission for Scheduled Castes as vice-chairman.
Verka was also one of the close aides of Capt Amarinder. However, the relationship between the two was severed as Capt continuously ignored Verka and he was not made minister.
He is one of very few politicians with a clean image.
Also Read: Punjab Cabinet finalised, five of Captain’s close aides to lose ministerial berth
Gurkirat Singh Kotli:
Gurkirat Singh is MLA from Khanna constituency in Punjab. He was elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 2012 and then in 2017.
Mr Singh is the grandson of late S. Beant Singh, the former Chief Minister who was killed in a terrorist attack. MLA Gurkirat is committed to social work and works tirelessly for the
upliftment of the weaker sections of society.
He is one of the MLAs who earlier had denied to be a part of the anti-Capt camp amid a revolt against him.
Sangat Singh Gilzian:
He is one of the working presidents of Punjab PCC. He is an MLA from the Urmur Tanda constituency.
Gilzian has been a critic of Capt Amarinder for a long time.
In the 2007 elections, when Capt Amrinder Singh was on CM's chair, he cancelled Gilzian's ticket from Tanda Urmur. After this, he rebelled and contested as an independent candidate.
He re-joined Congress however remained miffed by Capt.
Kuljit Singh Nagra:
The other working president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Kuljit Nagra is also a close confidant of Navjot Singh Sidhu and is MLA from Fatehgarh Sahib constituency.
He also served as AICC Incharge-Sikkim, Nagaland and Tripura. He is also ex-General Secretary Indian Youth Congress.
Amarinder Singh Raja Warring:
Congress MLA from Gidderbaha constituency, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has been the president of the Indian Youth Congress. His induction to CM Channi’s cabinet was confirmed for a long time, however, MLA Manpreet Singh Badal was opposing his appointment.
The two-time MLA from Gidderbaha, notably have been targeting Congress leader Badal over several issues recently, which has severed relations between the two.
The ministers dropped from the cabinet are Sunder Sham Arora, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Rana Gurmit Sodhi and Gurpreet Singh Kangar.
Meanwhile, Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Singh Badal, Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Aruna Chaudhary, Razia Sultana, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Tript
Rajinder Bajwa are the ministers in the cabinet of newly appointed Punjab CM.