Finally, Ludhiana gets 2 berths in expanded Bhagwant Mann Cabinet

Better late than never! The district on Monday finally got representation in the fourth expansion of the 30-month-old Punjab Council of Ministers.

The state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, sends 14 MLAs, constituting almost 12 per cent of the total 117 Vidhan Sabha seats in the state, to the Punjab Assembly.

Ludhiana had given an unprecedented 13 of the total 14 Assembly seats to the ruling party with Dakha remaining the lone exception, which was retained by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), in the February 20 high-stakes Punjab Assembly poll.

Tarunpreet Singh Sond (40) and Hardeep Singh Mundian (48), both first-time MLAs from Khanna and Sahnewal, have made it to the Council of Ministers. While Mundian has been made Minister of Revenue, Rehabilitation, Disaster Management, Water Supply, Sanitation, Housing and Urban Development, Sond has got the portfolios of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Investment Promotion, Labour, Hospitality, Industries and Commerce, Rural Development and Panchayats.

While Sond had defeated then sitting Congress Minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli, grandson of former Chief Minister Beant Singh and cousin of Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu in Khanna, former Akali Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon had lost to Mundian in Sahnewal.

However, the two-time AAP MLA Sarvjit Kaur Manuke, who was deputy leader of the Opposition in the previous Vidhan Sabha, and had retained her Jagraon seat, was again left out.

“It hardly matters to me whether I am made the minister or not. What all matters is the staunch support of my people, who had elected me twice consecutively with a thumping majority,” the firebrand AAP legislator from Jagraon told The Tribune.

Maintaining that party workers and cadres felt disappointed, Manuke said it was the prerogative of the party and its high command to select MLAs for the Cabinet berth. “I have consoled my supporters and party cadres to remain calm while assuring them that I will continue to work selflessly for the welfare of my area and its people, besides striving hard for the betterment of the party as well.

She asserted that the party and the people, who have reposed faith in her twice, were supreme. “I will never let my party and people down till my last breath,” Manuke said.

Meanwhile, a ray of hope and joy descended on AAP workers, leaders, and cadres across the district after Sond and Mundian were inducted into the Punjab Cabinet in Chandigarh this evening.

Both first-time MLAs

Tarunpreet Singh Sond (40) and Hardeep Singh Mundian (48), both first-time MLAs from Khanna and Sahnewal, have made it to the Council of Ministers. While Mundian has been made Minister of Revenue, Rehabilitation, Disaster Management, Water Supply, Sanitation, Housing and Urban Development, Sond has got the portfolios of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Investment Promotion, Labour, Hospitality, Industries and Commerce, Rural Development and Panchayats.