Chandigarh, July 2 (IANS) The AAP government in Punjab, led by Bhagwant Mann, will go for a Cabinet expansion, the seventh one in three years, on Thursday with the probable induction of newly elected legislator Sanjeev Arora.

Along with the induction of Arora, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha seat after winning the Ludhiana (West) Assembly bypoll, the government may also induct Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan into the 16-member Cabinet.

At present, two berths are lying vacant in the Cabinet, which can have 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister.

Speculations are rife that some ministers may be replaced while portfolios could also be reshuffled.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on June 24 said that the Cabinet expansion would be done in the next few days and Ludhiana (West) legislator Sanjeev Arora would get a Cabinet berth, fulfilling a promise made to the people during the by-election campaign.

“We will expand the Cabinet in the next two to three days to include Sanjeev Arora as a minister. This is a commitment we made, and we will deliver on it,” Mann had told the media after meeting Governor Gulab Chand Kataria here.

However, the Cabinet expansion has been postponed owing to the unavailability of the Governor, who was away to Udaipur in Rajasthan.

Even AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had announced during the Ludhiana (West) campaign that Arora, if elected, would be inducted into the Cabinet.

Arora on Tuesday resigned from his Rajya Sabha membership after he won the Assembly bypoll. He submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has accepted it.

Arora, who served in the Rajya Sabha for nearly three years, expressed gratitude to the people of Punjab, fellow MPs and the Rajya Sabha Chairman for their support and cooperation throughout his tenure.

Arora had won the bypoll by a margin of 10,637 votes, defeating Congress two-time legislator Bharat Bhushan Ashu.

–IANS

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