Ten legislators, comprising eight greenhorns, on Saturday took oath in the first Cabinet formation by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab led by Bhagwant Mann at a swearing-in ceremony in Chandigarh. There are a total of 18 berths in the Cabinet, including the Chief Minister.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers in the Raj Bhawan.
Harpal Cheema
The MLA from Dirba, who was re-elected for the second term, is an advocate by profession and considered close to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Earlier, he has served as the Leader of Opposition in the previous term of Vidhan Sabha, and was known to raise public issues.
Dr Baljit Kaur
A first-time MLA representing Malout and a doctor by profession, Kaur is the daughter of former AAP MP Prof Sadhu Singh. She had left her government service to take a political plunge.
Dr Vijay Singla
A dentist by profession, Singla is also a first-time MLA, representing Mansa. He comes from a humble background and had been associated with the party for the past five years. In this election, Singla defeated Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. Interestingly, the singer had once been the dentist’s patient.
Harbhajan Singh
Singh, the MLA from Jandiala in Majha region, was an Excise and Taxation Officer in the Punjab government before he took voluntary retirement. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2017 polls on an AAP ticket, but this time he won with a good margin.
Harjot Singh Bains
Bains has been a founder member of Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab. Representing Anandpur Sahib, he is highly educated, having completed his education from London School of Economics. He was involved in the anti-corruption movement of Anna Hazare.
Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer
Son of a PSPCL employee, Meet Hayer, studied in Barnala’s BGS Public School. He is a mechanical engineer by profession and was one of the first few people to actively participate in India Against Corruption movement. In 2017, by defeating Congress leader Kewal Dhillon, he became one of the youngest MLA in Punjab assembly at the age of 27. He is also president of the youth wing of the party.
Lal Chand Kataruchak
Lal Chand Kataruchak, a seasoned communist was active throughout his life with CPM. Later, around two decades ago when Mangat Ram Pasla split from CPM and formed his own Punjab based party, Lal Chand joiner Pasla. In 2017 election, Lal Chand contested from Bhoa as a Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI) candidate but lost the election. In 2022, he won the seat as AAP candidate. For the past several years, he had been fighting against illegal mining.
Laljit Singh Bhullar
Laljit Singh Bhullar an agriculturist and a commission agent by profession. He became MLA from Patti by defeating former Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon. He was active in SAD for several years but left the party after incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. He joined back SAD in 2018 but left the party to join AAP in 2019.
Braham Shankar Jimpa
Braham Shankar Jimpa, became MLA from Hoshiarpur by defeating former industry minister Sunder Sham Arora. He is 12th pass by qualification. He was vice chairman of Punjab Industry Development Board. He started his political career with Congress and remained councillor in municipal committee Hoshiarpur. He was denied Congress ticket in local bodies election, he contested independently and won.
Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal
Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, who became MLA from Ajnala is a farmer by profession. He is a matriculated by qualification.He spent sometime in US before coming back to India in 2014. He is doing farming since then.
He contested Lok Sabha in 2019 as AAP candidate from Khadoor Sahib. He later became district president of AAP. He contested assembly election for the first time from Ajnala and won.
Read all the Latest Politics News and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment