Capt. Amarinder Singh sworn-in as Punjab Chief Minister

Captain Amarinder Singh was sworn-in as the 29th Chief Minister of Punjab today.

Singh, who led the Congress to victory in the state after a decade, was sworn-in as the chief minister for the second time.

Governor V.P. Singh Badnore administered the oath of office and secrecy to Singh and nine members of his cabinet at Raj Bhawan here.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, and Charanjit Channi are among the other Congress MLAs who took oath as ministers today.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also attended the swearing-in ceremony. Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar and former telecom minister Ambika Soni were also in attendance.

Inducted into the Congress by Rajiv Gandhi and first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980, Capt. Singh had been campaigning to mark the first state-election victory for the grand old party after the 2014 Lok Sabha debacle.

Singh contested on the Patiala (Urban) seat. The assembly segment has been represented by him on three consecutive occasions, from 2002 to 2014.

The Congress secured 77 out of 117 seats in the state Assembly polls. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 20 seats on its debut, making as the second largest party in the Punjab Assembly.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance fared the worst with 18 seats.