Punjab Cabinet expansion: Oath-taking ceremony commences at Raj Bhavan

The oath-taking ceremony of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi-led Punjab cabinet commenced on Sunday afternoon at the Raj Bhawan and may see the induction of new faces.

Congress MLAs along with their family members reached Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh for the swearing-in ceremony of new ministers.

Just hours before this ceremony, Congress MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra, who is at Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh for the ceremony, confirmed that he is not a part of the new cabinet.

"I had resigned in protest against three black laws of the PM Modi led government and made it clear that I will not be joining the State Cabinet," said Kuljit Singh Nagra to ANI here.

As of now, Congress MLAs Brahm Mohindra and Manpreet Singh Badal, Tript Singh Bajwa, Aruna Chaudhary, Sukhbinder Sarkaria, and Rana Gurjeet Singh have taken oath as Cabinet ministers in the Channi-led Punjab Government, at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh.

They were administered the oath of the office of by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit.

After three rounds of meeting with the Congress high command, the new cabinet of Punjab, under the leadership of Channi was finalised on Saturday, sources said.

Channi yesterday met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and after the meeting had announced that Punjab cabinet expansion will be held today at Raj Bhawan, at 4:30 pm.

Of the three meetings, two meetings were held at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's residence within a span of 24 hours. The meetings continued till late at night.