Dr Vijay Singla in Cabinet, Mansa upbeat; Bathinda residents disappointed

Sukhmeet Bhasin
Bathinda, March 20

Mansa district got its first representation in the Cabinet as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Dr Vijay Singla was inducted as minister on Saturday.

Singla is the first MLA in the district to become a Cabinet minister since Mansa became a separate district from Bathinda in 1992. Earlier, Kirpal Singh Makha from Sardulgarh and Sher Singh Gagowal of Mansa remained ministers for a short period of time in former CM Harcharan Singh Brar and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal’s Cabinet, respectively.

Dr Vijay Singla was polled 1,00,023 votes, the highest by any candidate. He defeated renowned singer Sidhu Moosewala from Mansa by a huge margin of 63,323 votes.

Belonging to a middle class family, newly-appointed Cabinet Minister Dr Vijay Singla is a dentist by profession and runs a dental clinic in the city. A native of Bhopal village in Mansa, he completed his BDS from Patiala and had little connection with politics. Dr. Singla joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) about seven years ago. The party made him general secretary of the Punjab Beopar Mandal. He is associated with the Rotary Club and the Environment Society and runs home planting campaigns to protect the environment from pollution.

While the residents of Mansa are in a jubilant mood following the induction of Dr Vijay Singla as the Cabinet minister, Bathinda residents are little upset with no representation in the Cabinet. People were expecting senior AAP leader and two-time MLA from Talwandi Sabo Baljinder Kaur to be part of the Cabinet.

Even residents were also looking forward to seeing a new MLA from Bathinda Urban Jagroop Singh Gill in the ministry as he had defeated Manpreet Badal by a record margin of 63,581 votes. In 2017, Bathinda had two Cabinet Ministers Manpreet Singh Badal from Bathinda Urban and Gurpreet Singh Kangar from Rampura Phul. In 2012, Sikander Singh Maluka from Rampura Phul and Janmeja Singh Sekhon from Maur were part of the Cabinet.

Last two govts had faces from Bathinda

In 2017, Bathinda had two Cabinet ministers Manpreet Singh Badal from Bathinda Urban and Gurpreet Singh Kangar from Rampura Phul. In 2012, Sikander Singh Maluka (Rampura Phul) and Janmeja Singh Sekhon (Maur) were part of the state Cabinet.