AMRITSAR: With the induction of scheduled caste (SC) candidate Aruna Chaudhary in chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s cabinet, the Majha region of Punjab now has six ministers in the Punjab cabinet.
Chaudhary was social security, women, and child development minister in former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s government.
Deputy chief minister O P Soni, and ministers Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, and Raj Kumar Verka are from Amritsar district, while deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Chaudhary are from Gurdaspur districts.
In the 2002 assembly elections, Congress had fielded Chaudhary from SC assembly constituency Dinanagar, which she won by 2,682 votes by defeating BJP’s Sita Ram. In 2007 elections, Chaudhary lost to BJP’s Sita Ram by 842 votes. In 2012 and 2017 elections, she won by defeating BJP’s Bishan Das.
A political analyst from Gurdaspur, Harpreet Singh Hundal, said the step to keep the woman minister was an appreciable one. “Chaudhary’s induction could be aimed at garnering Dalit and Hindu votes in Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts during the 2022 elections. The party had also taken into consideration her political legacy as her father-in-law, Jai Muni, was an old Congressmen who had remained MLA four times,” he said.
