Punjab CM-elect Bhagwant Mann to resign as MP on Monday

Ruchika M. Khanna

Chandigarh, March 13

Punjab Chief Minister-elect Bhagwant Mann will be submitting his resignation as Member of Parliament, Sangrur, on Monday.

Sources in the Aam Aadmi Party have told The Tribune that before he takes the oath of office and secrecy as Chief Minister on March 16, Mann will submit his resignation.

The deliberations on the new Punjab Cabinet and the Speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, too, are to be held tomorrow. The first session of the Vidhan Sabha is likely to be convened on March 17, a day after the oath-taking ceremony at Khatkar Kalan.

Interestingly, the indications coming from the party are that only Bhagwant Mann will take oath as CM on March 16. The other members of the cabinet will be sworn in later at Chandigarh.

Sources in the party confirm that the party top brass in Delhi has already been looking at the likely inductions in the Cabinet. Initially, only six to seven ministers are to be inducted in the Cabinet.

Punjab Cabinet can have 18 members, including a chief minister. The names of those who are likely to be inducted are Harpal Cheema, Aman Arora, Harjot Bains, Baljinder Kaur, Neena Mittal and Budh Ram.

Punjab Government will be spending Rs 2.42 crore on the oath-taking ceremony of the Chief Minister elect Bhagwant Mann at Khatkar Kalan on Wednesday.

While Rs 2 crore have been earmarked for the function to be held near the memorial of Bhagat Singh, Rs 42 lakh have been set aside for ferrying people from across the state for the ceremony on March 16 (Rs 2 lakh per district).

Another sum of Rs 15 lakh has been set aside for making arrangements for the visit of all party MLAs to Amritsar, where they are expected to pay obeisance at the Darbar Sahib.