The newly appointed Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Friday night and discussed the state's new cabinet structure.
Just hours after returning from the national capital, Channi was summoned by the Congress high command as the party seems to be perplexed by the Punjab cabinet's expansion. This was
the third meeting in the last four days over the matter.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Harish Rawat, Ajay Maken and KC Venugopal attended the meeting. According to the sources, the four hours long meeting was held at Rahul Gandhi’s
residence and ended at 2 am.
Capt Amarinder is a threat to party
Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh remains the biggest threat to the party leadership and Channi’s government in the state. Reportedly, some of Captain Amarinder Singh's
close aides are likely to be dropped from the cabinet.
According to sources, Navjot Sidhu’s camp wants to drop Capt's close confidants Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, Sham Sundar Arora, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and Aruna Chaudhary
from the new government. Out of these five ministers, Aruna Chaudhary is CM Channi close relative.
However, party high command is believes doing so will strengthen Capt’s side. Removing previous ministers, particularly Capt’s loyalists can lead to another revolt in Punjab
Congress which surely will cause heavy loss to the party in 2022 state polls.
New faces in Punjab government
The Punjab PCC working presidents Kuljit Nagra and Sangat Singh Gilzian are looking forward to being named as ministers in the new state government. Meanwhile, PPCC General secretary Pargat
Singh might hold a key post in Channi’s cabinet as he has played a significant role in Capt Amarinder’s removal.
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.
Pargat Singh, Raj Kumar Verka, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Kuljit Singh Nagra are among the new faces.