AAP Govt’s Cabinet Inertia: First Meeting of 2025 After 4-Month Gap

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AAP Govt’s Cabinet Inertia: First Meeting of 2025 After 4-Month Gap

Thursday, 30 January 2025 | Monika Malik | Chandigarh

In a move that underscores the Punjab Government's sluggish administrative approach, the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government is set to hold its first cabinet meeting of 2025 on February 10 — a staggering four months after its last meeting on October 8 in 2024. The government’s lack of urgency in convening Cabinet discussions raises serious concerns about governance and policy-making in the state. 

 

In 2024, the Mann Government held a total of just five cabinet meetings, an abysmally low number for a state grappling with severe financial distress, rising drug menace, farmer unrest, and a struggling industrial sector. The infrequent meetings point to an administration that appears more invested in political campaigns than in addressing Punjab’s mounting crises.

 

Initially, the first Cabinet Meeting of 2025 was scheduled for February 6, but a notification later shifted the date to February 10. The delay, however, is no coincidence — the meeting will come right after the completion of Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled for February 5, where AAP is fighting to retain power. With Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, his entire Cabinet and AAP’s state unit actively engaged in electioneering in Delhi, governance in Punjab appeared to have taken a backseat.

 

This prioritization of political campaigns over state administration has not gone unnoticed with the opposition parties, including the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have all along been taking on the ruling AAP for ignoring state administration and key issues while mainly focusing on the political activities.

 

Opposition leaders maintained that Mann’s Government is neglecting Punjab in favour of bolstering AAP’s national ambitions. The Cabinet’s four-month dormancy, despite burning issues in the State, raised concerns over the government's commitment to addressing public grievances. 

 

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring termed the delay in cabinet meetings as a “mockery of governance”, while SAD’s former president Sukhbir Singh Badal accused Mann of treating Punjab as a “secondary priority” compared to AAP’s national expansion plans.

 

Key Issues Left Unaddressed

Punjab is currently facing multiple crises — be it financial distress, the farmers’ protest, law and order concerns, among other key decisions. The ‘National Policy Framework for Agricultural Marketing’ and its ramifications for the state’s agro economy is also pending for discussion by the Council of Ministers. Besides, the government has not even convened the winter session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

 

It is believed that the meeting may focus on implementing AAP’s poll promises, especially the much-touted monthly Rs 1100 for state’s all 18-plus years-old women. Moreover, the meeting is also expected to focus on the issues related to the state budget as already the preparations for the same have started.

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