Capt Amarinder to take oath at ‘10.17 am’

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15

Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh would be among the prominent leaders of the Congress, besides party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who would attend the swearing-in ceremony of Capt Amarinder Singh and nine ministers here tomorrow.

Capt Amarinder will take oath as Punjab Chief Minister at dot 10.17 am on the advice of an astrologer, it is learnt.

Governor VP Singh Badnore would also administer oath (in order of seniority) to Brahm Mohindra, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh, Charanjit Singh Channi, Aruna Chaudhary and Razia Sultana. The two women would be ministers of state with independent charge.

Rana KP Singh is likely to be the Speaker.

Meanwhile, to stem murmurs of annoyance over being denied a Cabinet berth, top Congress leaders have conveyed to the party hopefuls that more MLAs would be adjusted in the second phase of induction. There are a total of 18 cabinet ministerial berths, including the CM.

“If young faces with a clean image were fielded to counter AAP,  those who won should also be inducted,” said a two-time young MLA from Majha.

Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh, former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and a host of senior Congress leaders are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony — which on the directions of Capt Amarinder Singh is to be a low-key affair, “on account of the poor financial health of the state”. Balwant Singh Ramoowalia would represent the outgoing Akhilesh Yadav government in UP.

Meanwhile, the first session of the new Vidhan Sabha is likely to be convened on March 24 primarily to pass the vote-on-account. The regular session to pass the Budget will be called in May, sources said.

CM-designate visits ailing mother in PGI 

Chandigarh: Chief Minister-designate Capt Amarinder Singh visited his ailing mother, Rajmata Mohinder Kaur, at the PGI here on Wednesday. He arrived at 3 pm and spent half an hour with his 95-year-old mother. She was shifted to a private room from the emergency ward. Capt Amarinder told the media that her condition was stable, though she continued to be under observation. Capt Amarinder also discussed her health with doctors attending to her. Doctors later said Rajmata was admitted here following GI (gastrointestinal) bleeding, but was much better. She was expected to be discharged once the some tests were completed, they added. tns