Capt Amarinder Singh takes oath as CM of Punjab

Chandigarh: Captain Amarinder Singh was sworn in as Punjab chief minister today after the Congress party’s emphatic win in the Assembly elections

Nine other cabinet ministers including turncoat Navjot Singh Sidhu also took oath in presence of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

The oath was administered by Governor VP Singh Badnore.

The list included senior Congress leader Braham Mohindra and Manpreet Singh Badal, the estranged nephew of the outgoing chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Other MLAs sworn in were Sadhu Singh Dharamkot, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh Sodhi and Charanjit Singh Channi.

Two women MLAs, Aruna Chaudhary and Razia Sultana, were also sworn in as ministers of state.

Contrary to speculations, Sidhu did not bag the deputy chief minister post due to strong resistance from senior party leaders in the Congress.

On the other hand, Prime Minster Narendra Modi congratulated Amarinder Singh on taking over as Punjab CM and wished him the best, in working for state’s development.

This is the second time that Amarinder Singh is serving as chief minister, having served in that capacity already in 2002-2007.

Inducted into the Congress by Rajiv Gandhi and first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980, Capt. Singh had been campaigning to mark the first state-election victory for the grand old party after the 2014 Lok Sabha debacle.

Singh contested on the Patiala (Urban) seat. The assembly segment has been represented by him on three consecutive occasions, from 2002 to 2014.

The Congress secured 77 out of 117 seats in the state Assembly polls. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 20 seats on its debut, making as the second largest party in the Punjab Assembly.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance fared the worst with 18 seats.