Chandigarh, April 6
The Parkash Singh Badal-led Punjab Government will have 21 Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs). Badal will administer the oath to these legislators on April 10. As many as 17 CPSs will be from the Shiromani Akali Dal, while four will be from the BJP.

Those to be appointed CPSs are: N K Sharma, Pawan Kumar Tinu, Des Raj Dhugga, Mohinder Kaur Josh, Nisara Khatoon, Avinash Chander, Balbir Singh Gunas, Sohan Singh Thandal, Virsa Singh Valtoha, Sarup Chand Singla, Mantar Brar, Parkash Chand Garg, Harmit Singh Sandhu, Inderbir Bularia, Amarpal Singh Boni, Nand Lal, Gurchran Babbehali (all from SAD). Those from the BJP are: K D Bhandari, Som Parkash, Amarjit Shahi and Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu.

There are seven first-time legislators. Among these, five first-timers are from SAD, while two are from the BJP. The representation has been given to all sections of the society, including Dalits and women.

The concept of having the Chief Parliamentary Secretaries was introduced to circumvent the Constitution’s 91st Amendment Act 2003, wherein Article 164 Section 1(A) lays down that the total number of ministers, including the chief minister, cannot be more than 15 per cent of the total strength of MLAs in the House.

Punjab Cabinet can have 18 ministers, including the chief minister. The Vidhan Sabha comprises 117 legislators.