Day after, Punjab AAP legislators keep it simple

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, March 11

As Punjab prepares to administer oath of office to CM-designate Bhagwant Mann and other Cabinet ministers at Khatkar Kalan on March 16, winds of change are already sweeping the state.

Notification for 16th Vidhan Sabha

The dissolution of the 15th Vidhan Sabha was recommended by Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday. The notification for the constitution of 16th Vidhan Sabha was also issued on Friday.

Major changes at Civil Secretariat likely

Civil Secretariat — the seat of power — is buzzing with anticipation of major administrative changes with the change in government. The grapevine has it that the main contenders for the post of Chief Secretary are VK Singh and Anurag Aggarwal, while the names of A Venu Prasad and Sarvjit Singh are doing the rounds for the post of Principal Secretary to CM. Sources say the new government was unlikely to make changes in the Police Department.

Nothing sums up the mood in Punjab better than the scenes outside a hotel in Mohali, where the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs converged this afternoon. Other than the 10 MLAs who have been re-elected, the remaining 81 (minus Mann) were unrecognisable to all, including their own party colleagues.

Also read: Little-known faces knock bigwigs out in Punjab assembly poll

Like Hardev Singh Dev Mann, the MLA Nabha MLA and son of a cycle mechanic who gave up his permanent residency in Canada to come back and contest the polls, who was being asked to introduce himself. “I was a radio jockey in Canada, but decided to come here and contest the polls. I come from a family which we did not have enough to eat. The party reposed faith in me and will thus serve the people better,” he said.

Gone is the paraphernalia associated with the other parties that have ruled Punjab alternatively. Mann himself travelled from Sangrur to Delhi in his personal car, and though he arrived back in the evening by air, he travelled from the airport to the hotel in Mohali for a meeting with the party MLAs, in his personal car, while the official Landcruiser tailed his vehicle.

The MLAs had not cordoned themselves behind police men and barricades from their party workers and supporters. They were freely mingling with them, joking and some even pleasantly shocked at the complete sweep. “People have given us the mandate as we are not like other party leaders”, said the first-time MLA from Sangrur, Narinder Kaur Bharaj.

Breaking the convention, Mann and other Cabinet Ministers will take oath of office at Khatkar Kalan, the native village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, on March 16. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal will be present at the ceremony. The swearing-in ceremony has traditionally been held at Chandigarh.

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