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Amarinder Singh to take oath as Punjab CM on March 16; Sidhu, Manpreet in race for ministerial berth

Amarinder Singh will discuss formation of the new government with Rahul Gandhi.

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 After guiding Congress to a thumping victory in the state Assembly polls, senior party leader Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to take oath as the Chief Minister of Punjab on March 16.

Talking to media outside Punjab Raj Bhawan here today, he said that he will go to Delhi on March 14 to meet Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and discuss formation of the new government. The oath taking ceremony will take place on March 16, he said. However, the scion of erstwhile Patiala Royal family refused to comment on the number of ministers who will be part of the new cabinet. He said the Congress government will be accountable to the people of the state.

Amarinder earlier held an official meeting with Governor V P Singh Badnore for staking claims to form the new government in the state. He was also unanimously elected as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader by the newly-elected party MLAs in a meeting held at party office here today. Navjot Singh Sidhu (Amritsar East), Pargat Singh (Jalandhar Cantt), Raj Kumar Verka (Amritsar East) were some of the newly-elected MLAs present at the meeting. Congress ended the SAD-BJP combine's ten year regime by registering a thumping win by bagging 77 seats, one short of two-third majority.

Rookie Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to get 20 seats, while SAD-BJP won 18 seats in the state polls. Two seats went into the kitty of AAP's ally lok Insaf Party (LIP). The winning margin of Amarinder from Patiala seat was the highest in the 117-member Punjab Assembly. He won convincingly with a margin of 52,407 votes after defeating his nearest rival AAP candidate Balbir Singh.  Cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, former hockey captain Pargat Singh and Manpreet Singh Badal are among the leaders likely to find a place in the Amarinder Singh Ministry.

Though the chief minister-designate refused to share any details about the likely members of his cabinet, party sources said several newly elected MLAs including Sidhu, who had deserted BJP to join Congress, Manpreet, the estranged nephew of outgoing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, and Razia Sulata are in the race. Having tasted electoral victory in Punjab after a gap of 10 years, Congress would like to give representation to members of different castes, regions, religions and gender and also accommodate experienced leaders and youths in the cabinet.

Other probables for ministerial berths are Sukhjinder Randhawa (Dera Baba Nanak), Tript Singh Rajinder Bajwa (Fatehgarh Churian) and O P Soni (Amritsar Central) from Majha region, the sources said. From Doaba, former hockey captain Pargat Singh (Jalandhar Cantt), Rana Gurjit Singh (Kapurthala), Sham Sundar Arora (Hoshiarpur) are in race for ministerial berths. From Malwa region, where Congress got 40 seats out of 69, Manpreet Singh Badal (Bathinda Urban), Brahm Mohindra (Patiala Rural), either Surinder Dawar (Ludhiana Central) or Rakesh Pandey (Ludhiana North), Balbir Sidhu (Mohali) and Gurmeet Sodhi (Guruharsahai) are the main contenders.

Among women, Razia Sultana (Malerkotla) and Aruna Choudhary (Dinanagar SC) could get a ministerial berth. Vijay Inder Singh Singla (Sangrur), Raja Amarinder Warring (Gidderabaha) and Kuljit Nagra (Fatehgarh Sahib) are considered close to party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and could find a place in the ministry. Among Dalit leaders, Charanjit Singh Channi (Chamkaur Sahib SC), Raj Kumar (Chabbewal SC) and Sadhu Singh Dharmsot (Nabha SC) are the front runners for the ministerial berths.

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