Chandigarh/New Delhi, May 27
The expansion of the Union Cabinet today was like a bitter-sweet pill for the northern region. Some states were clear gainers in the “berth adjustment” made by the Congress-led UPA combine, while leaders of others were left sulking and even brooding at their ill-luck after having performed well in the polls. Also, numbers were perhaps no consideration as experience got preference over youth in giving representation to the northern states in the union council of ministers.
To help the UPA to form its second successive government at the Centre, Punjab had returned eight MPs while Haryana elected nine, HP one, J&K five and Chandigarh one to give Congress-led alliance 24 of 34 seats from the region.
In the region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh, the biggest gainers have been Pawan Bansal and Kumari Selja, both who have been upgraded from the level of minister of state to cabinet rank. In fact, the union territory of Chandigarh will get its first cabinet berth after late Law Minister Jagan Nath Kaushal.
Harmohan Dhawan was Minister of State with Independent charge in Chandrasekhar government while Pawan Bansal was MoS for Finance in the last UPA government. The hill state of Himachal Pradesh is a clear gainer among the states with two
cabinet berths despite having elected just a lone MP. Virbhadra Singh, three-time CM of HP and former union minister was inducted, making him the second cabinet minister from the state after long-time party loyalist Anand Sharma —- a Rajya Sabha member —- who found a mention in the first list announced on May 22.
In case of Haryana, the outgoing Law Minister HR Bhardawaj has been dropped, while the outgoing MoS for defence production Rao Inderjeet Singh from Gurgaon has also not found a place in the cabinet. Only Kumari Selja has got a full cabinet rank. The last time the state had one cabinet minister and two MoSs. Haryana is seen as the “biggest loser” as far as cabinet ranks are concerned.
In case of Punjab, the Congress has considered the Rajya Sabha members ahead of the elected ones. Former Punjab cadre IAS officer and now Rajya Sabha member Manohar Singh Gill was inducted into the cabinet. He follows Ambika Soni, who was inducted on May 22 on “Punjab quota”. The only elected member to have found a place in the cabinet is Preneet Kaur, three-time MP and wife of former CM Amarinder Singh. For the Patiala royals, it’s is the first-ever entry into the union cabinet. Amarinder and his mother Mohinder Kaur have been parliamentarians but never made the cut into the cabinet.
By making three ministers, Dr Manmohan Singh has given representation to all three regions of Punjab — Manohar Singh Gill (Majha), Ambika Soni (Doaba) and Preneet kaur (Malwa). In fact, by making Preneet Kaur a cabinet member, he has given due representation to women from Punjab, as the state has returned the highest number of four women MPs this time.
The youth formula of Punjab has been clearly ignored in the case of Punjab. Gill is 73 years of age while Soni and Preneet Kaur are in their 60s. Incidentally, both Ambika Soni and Gill have their Rajya Sabha terms till April next year.
Interestingly, from Punjab two of Rahul Gandhi’s hand-picked men —-Vijay Inder Singla and Ravneet Singh Bittu —- have won. Also in the winners is Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari (44), who won from Ludhiana with a huge margin.
For Chandigarh MP Pawan Bansal, it has been gradual rise. He started off as Rajya Sabha member, before being elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991 for the first time.
National Conference patron Dr Farooq Abdullah has also been inducted in the cabinet. J&K now has two MPs in the cabinet with Ghulam Nabi Azad already sworn in the first phase of ministry formation.
In Delhi, Krishna Tirath a second-time MP and Ajay Maken have made into the cabinet. For Tirath, it is his first entry, while Maken he has been retained. This means Delhi, now has three berths in the cabinet, up from two the last time.
