Big News: Sanjeev Arora Set to Join Punjab Cabinet in Bhagwant Mann Govt's 7th Expansion
Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu): Punjab's Bhagwant Mann government is going to expand the cabinet for the seventh time in three years. According to the information, MLA Sanjeev Arora, who recently won the by-election from Ludhiana West assembly seat, is sure to be included in the cabinet. However, it is not yet clear whether more new ministers will be included in the 16-member Mann cabinet or not. There can be a total of 18 ministers in the cabinet including the Chief Minister in Punjab.
Sanjeev Arora will take oath as minister on Thursday afternoon at a ceremony organised at Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh. His inclusion in Mann cabinet was considered certain since he was elected MLA last week. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had announced during Arora's election campaign that if Arora is elected, he will be made a minister. Last week, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had also confirmed that he was going to include Arora in his cabinet. However, Arora could not be included in the cabinet till now due to the absence of Governor Gulab Chand Kataria. Meanwhile, there is also speculation about the change of departments of some ministers of Mann government.
Resignation from Rajya Sabha
Sanjeev Arora resigned from Rajya Sabha membership on Tuesday after winning the by-election on Ludhiana West assembly seat. Arora submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has accepted it. Arora, a first-time MP, was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab on April 10, 2022 and his term was till April 9, 2028.
Arora, a Ludhiana-based businessman, won the by-election by a margin of over 10,000 votes against his nearest rival and Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu. Now the way has been cleared for the AAP to nominate someone else from the ruling party in Punjab to the Rajya Sabha. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has denied that he is in the race to get membership of the Upper House of Parliament. There has been speculation for some time about Kejriwal going to the Rajya Sabha.
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