CHANDIGARH: Despite 15 ministers in the Charanjit Singh Channi-led council of ministers in Punjab taking oath of office and secrecy on Sunday, the chief minister is yet to finalise their portfolios.
Chief minister Channi and his two deputies Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni were administered oath by Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit earlier on September 20 after which the Congress took six days to finalise the council of ministers during which Channi made back-to-back trips to Delhi for discussion with the party high command.
Finally, with a last-minute replacement, 15 cabinet ministers, including eight who were part of the earlier Amarinder Singh-led cabinet, took oath on Sunday.
As if it was not enough, the delay in announcing the portfolios of the council of ministers is reflecting on the decisiveness of the chief minister and the pressure on him from different quarters.
This is at such a crucial time when the Congress government hardly has three months to fulfil its promises before the election code of conduct will come into force for the next state assembly polls scheduled in February.
The chief minister even chaired a 3-hour meeting of his cabinet on Monday morning and thereafter hosted a lunch for his cabinet colleagues.
It is learnt that the chief minister was sitting in the office till late evening on Monday and also held a meeting with deputy chief minister Randhawa to finalise the portfolios because of the issues over allocation of some of the key departments.
Sources in the Congress claim that PPCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu is unhappy as Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra has not been accommodated in the cabinet. Also, Sidhu was pushing the case of senior advocate Deepinder Singh Patwalia for the post of advocate general but finally the state government issued the notification of senior advocate Amar Preet Singh Deol for the post on Monday.
But Mohammad Mustafa, former DGP rank officer and principal strategic advisor to Sidhu, said that the selection of the cabinet and allocation of portfolios is chief minister’s prerogative and chief minister can anytime seek advice from the AICC or the PPCC chief.
“The chief minister might take some time but the Congress leadership conventionally does not interfere with what is the prerogative of the chief minister,” he said. “Sidhu is a wise man and he knows he is boss of the party. He doesn’t interfere. Why would he be upset?” he added.
