Punjab CM Channi gets Rahul Gandhi's nod for cabinet expansion list

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In a late night meeting which ended after 2 a.m. on Friday, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi gave his nod to a list with proposed names for the Punjab cabinet expansion, sources said.

Some new faces are likely to be inducted but it will not be entirely new and people from all backgrounds will be given chance to serve in the Channi cabinet.

Rahul Gandhi met Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi along with state in-charge Harish Rawat and General Secretary K.C. Venugopal late Thursday.

 

Ahead of the meeting Rahul had separate meeting with Rawat.

The party does not want to drop all the ministers in the past cabinet as it will strengthen former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's side. These MLAs could be crucial ahead of elections.

The former chief minister has spoken out in public that he is upset over the way his exit was engineered and that he was humiliated for not being taken into confidence before the big move.

He disclosed that he had offered his resignation to party President Sonia Gandhi three weeks earlier but she had asked him to continue. "If she had just called me and asked me to step down, I would have," he said, adding that "as a soldier, I know how to do my task and leave once I am called back".

Amarinder Singh has also said that he would fight Navjot Singh Sidhu's elevation to Punjab Chief Ministership tooth and nail, and was ready to make any sacrifice to save the country from such a "dangerous man".

Amarinder Singh said he will pit a strong candidate against Sidhu in the 2022 Assembly polls to ensure his defeat.

--IANS

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