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Capt Amarinder Singh takes oath as Punjab CM; Navjot Singh Sidhu touches feet, Modi tweets best wishes

By FnF Correspondent | PUBLISHED: 16, Mar 2017, 12:35 pm IST | UPDATED: 16, Mar 2017, 12:38 pm IST

Capt Amarinder Singh takes oath as Punjab CM; Navjot Singh Sidhu touches feet, Modi tweets best wishes Chandigarh: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Captain Amarinder Singh, 75, took oath as the state's 26th chief minister at the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh.

After steering the Congress to a stupendous victory, Amarinder Singh today took oath as Punjab chief minister. 75-year-old Amarinder was sworn in as the state’s 26th chief minister along with nine ministers, including Navjot Singh Sidhu. Speculation was rife that the cricketer-turned politician would be given the post of deputy chief minister but he was the third among the list of nine ministers sworn in on Thursday.

Two Ministers of State – both women- were sworn in at the ceremony attended among others by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.The ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan here and the oath was administered by Governor V P Singh Badnore.

Besides Sidhu those sworn in were Braham Mohindra, Manpreet Singh Badal, nephew of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Sadhu Singh Dharamkot, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh Sodhi and Charanjit Singh Chann.

Two women MLAs Aruna Chaudhary and Razia Sultana were sworn in as Ministers of State (Independent Charge).

Congress sources said that an expansion of the state cabinet would take place at a later date.

The state can have a maximum of 18 ministers including the Chief Minister. The Congress has 77 MLAs in the assembly.

Amarinder had announced that the oath taking ceremony would be a simple affair in view of the financial crisis facing the stage. This will be Amarinder’s second stint as chief minister.

A galaxy of senior Congress leaders led by the party Vice President attended the ceremony including Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Ajay Maken, Sachin Pilot, Partap Singh Bajwa.

Amarinder’s wife former Union Minister Preneet Kaur and his family members were also present.

Congress under the leadership of Amarinder had won 77 seats in the 117 member Assembly elections wresting power from the SAD-BJP alliance which was relegated to the third spot with 18 seats.

New entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 20 seats and two seats went to its ally Lok Insaaf Party.

The constitutional cap of 15% ministers in the 117 –member House allows the new Congress government to induct a maximum of 18 Cabinet members, including the chief minister.

Here are the latest developments in this story:
  •     On stage, Mr Sidhu, 53, touched Captain Singh's feet, a show of respect.  Mr Sidhu, a prize catch for the Congress, has not been shy about suggesting he expects handsome compensation for his role.  His action on stage today is meant to signal that personal ambition will place second to party solidarity.
  •     Soon after the oath ceremony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Congratulations @capt_amarinder on taking oath as CM. Wishing you the very best in working for Punjab's development.
  •     Top Congress leaders including Vice President Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were at the venue.
  •     On a list of ministers given to the Punjab Governor for the oath ceremony, the party's senior-most legislator Brahm Mohindra found first place, Mr Sidhu in second. Four-time lawmaker Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, and the state's richest legislator Rana Gurjit Singh will also be ministers.The leader of the Congress legislature party Charanjit Singh Channi and Nabha legislator Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, both Dalit leaders, also took oath.
  •     Captain's cabinet team also includes Manpreet Singh Badal, the estranged nephew of outgoing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Manpreet Badal was finance minister in the Badal government of the Akali Dal before he drifted away and launched the People's Party of Punjab, which later merged with the Congress.
  •     Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu - who underlined his hopes in the cabinet last week saying "No one can whistle a symphony" - has played safe. He called himself a "soldier of Rahul Gandhi's army" and spoke about sacrifice: "I will sacrifice myself for Punjab. I want to see Punjab prosper". Captain Amarinder had made it clear that Rahul Gandhi, and not he, would decide on Mr Sidhu's role.
  •     Any move to make Mr Sidhu Deputy Chief Minister would find disapproval from senior Congress leaders who resent the hype around the newcomer in the party.
  •     The Congress had said the swearing-in ceremony today will be a "low-key" affair, with the Captain underlining the financial crisis that he has inherited from the previous Akali Dal-BJP government. The Punjab government's debt exceeds Rs. 1.25 lakh crore, an average of Rs. 37,000 for every resident in the state.
  •     "We do not want to celebrate when the people of Punjab are suffering due to severe financial and other problems," Captain Amarinder, also the erstwhile Maharaja of Patiala, said, setting the tone for the political discourse in the state.
  •     The Congress won 77 of Punjab's 117 seats, with the Aam Aadmi Party winning 20 and the Akali Dal-BJP combine winning 15. This means that the Leader of Opposition will go be from Arvind Kejriwal's AAP.  The party's Dakha lawmaker Harvinder Singh Phoolka has been elected to the post.
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