Punjab: Captain Amarinder Singh was sworn in as Punjab chief minister today after the Congress party’s emphatic win+ in the Assembly elections held last month. Eight cabinet ministers were also sworn in after him.
Amarinder, who recently turned 75, was the Congress party’s projected chief ministerial candidate. He won from the Patiala seat in the Assembly elections.
The former royal has been largely credited for the Congress party’s win in Punjab where it got a more-than-comfortable victory, winning 77 of 117 seats. This is his second stint as chief minister.
The chief minister chose 10.16am as the time for taking the oath as it was considered auspicious.
Sworn in along with Amarinder were cabinet ministers Navjot SIngh Sidhu+ , Manpreet Badal, Brahm Mohindra, Charanjit Channi, Rana Gurjit and Tripat Bajwa; Aruna Choudhary and Razia Sultana were sworn in as ministers of state with independent charge.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were among the top Congress leaders who attended the swearing-in ceremony. Governor VP Singh Badnore administered the oath of office and secrecy to Amarinder at Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh.
On Sunday, Amarinder emphasized that the new government won’t go on any witch hunts.
