Chandigarh, 27/9: Now only four months are left for the Punjab Assembly elections, but despite the recent major changes, the troubles in the party do not seem to be diminishing. It is believed that displeasure can arise during ticket distribution in the election. Apart from this, some displeasure has already started showing about the division of the ministry in the new cabinet.
Hours before the swearing-in of the new ministers on Sunday, some MLAs have written a letter to state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. The MLAs say that Rana Gurjit Singh should not be made a minister as he has been accused of corruption in the sand mining scam. Gurjit Singh was dropped from the cabinet following allegations of corruption from the Captain Amarinder Singh government.
It is believed that Sidhu is upset with some other leaders being given ministerial posts by the new CM. These include Aruna Chaudhary. In fact, Aruna Chaudhary is a relative of the current CM Charanjit Singh Channi and there is an anti-incumbency wave against her in her assembly seat. Sidhu wanted Punjab Congress Committee (SC) president Raj Chhabbewal to get a place.
‘Caste equation was not taken care of’
It is being said that the caste equation has not been taken care of in the cabinet. The religious Sikh community has not got enough participation in this. This community constitutes 30 percent of the Scheduled Castes in the state. There are 9 MLAs from this community in the present assembly. According to sources, Channi was striving for his community and did not pay attention to the religious Sikh community.