Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi carries out first cabinet expansion, inducts 15 Ministers
Chandigarh, Sep 26: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi carried out his first cabinet expansion on Sunday, inducting 15 Cabinet Ministers which included seven new entrants.
The new faces in the Channi Ministry are Randeep Singh Nabha, Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Gurkirat Singh Kotli.
Rana Gurjit Singh has made a comeback after resigning in 2018 from the Amrinder Singh Ministry.
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the legislators.
Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Singh Badal, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Aruna Chaudhary, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Razia Sultana, Vijay Inder Singla and Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who were ministers in the previous Amarinder Singh led cabinet, were retained as Cabinet Ministers.
Channi had taken oath as the chief minister following the unceremonious exit of Congress veteran Amarinder Singh after a prolonged power tussle with state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Rana Gurjit Singh, Mohindra and Singla are considered close to Amarinder Singh. A total of 18 MLAs, including the chief minister, can be included in the cabinet. Channi's two deputies Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni were sworn in on Monday. Earlier, a section of Congress leaders from the state had written to the party's Punjab unit chief Sidhu against the induction of former minister Rana Gurjit Singh, alleging he was corrupt and tainted". The leaders had also demanded that the cabinet berth may instead be filled up "by giving representation to a clean Dalit leader".
A copy of the letter was also sent to the chief minister.
Rana Gurjit Singh, after facing flak from the Opposition over allegations of impropriety in the auction of sand mining contracts, had to resign from the previous Amarinder Singh cabinet in 2018. At that time, he had held Irrigation and Power portfolios.
Chandigarh: MLAs Razia Sultana, Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, and Randeep Singh Nabha take oath as Cabinet ministers in Punjab Government pic.twitter.com/9IB6WHmPol
— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2021
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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Riyadh (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
