Governor Banwarilal Purohit administers the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at the Raj Bhavan

Chandigarh: Two new ministers – Balkar Singh and Gurmeet Singh Khudian – were sworn in as ministers in the Bhagwant Mann cabinet today by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit. A cabinet reshuffle has also been affected by the Chief Minister, wherein Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has been divested of both his key departments of Agriculture and Rural Development.

While newly-inducted minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian has been given the Agriculture department, Rural Development department has been given to Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar. In the new cabinet reshuffle, while Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar had “resigned” yesterday, minister Dhaliwal too seems to have been cut to size. He now has only NRI Affairs and Administrative Reforms Departments.

Balkar Singh, brought into the Cabinet as a reward for helping the ruling Aam Aadmi Party win the crucial Jalandhar by-election, has been given the now all important Local Government department. With the elections to the local bodies due later this year, a lot of policy making and “management” is done by the Local Government department.

Khudian, considered a giant slayer for defeating five-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, has been given Agriculture Department at a time when the ruling party is busy consolidating the rural votes for the zila parishad and panchayat elections, also due to be held this year. He also gets Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Food Processing Departments. With today’s Cabinet expansion- the third in the 15 month rule of AAP- Punjab Council of ministers has 16 ministers, including the Chief Minister. Two berths in the cabinet are still lying vacant.