Old and trusted loyalists have found a berth in the Punjab council of Ministers. The all-men cabinet will have three new additions on Tuesday with a former ‘convicted’ Minister Tota Singh, a dalit face Sohan Singh Thandal and a close aide Daljit Singh Cheema swearing-in as Ministers.
The Parkash Singh Badal led Cabinet will be sans woman power, as the lone female minister, Bibi Jagir Kaur, was made to put in her papers after she was convicted and sentenced five-year jail for forcing her daughter for abortion and then abducting her. Even as the name of Sham Chaurasi, MlA Mohinder Kaur Josh, currently the chief parliamentary secretary in the State Government, was doing the rounds.
Badal opted for the experienced and loyalists for the first-ever Cabinet expansion during the Government’s second consecutive tenure.Though induction of Anandpur Sahib MlA Cheema, and Chabbewal MlA Thandal was most likely, giving a cabinet berth to the former Minister Tota Singh has thrown surprises. Tota Singh, the former Agriculture Minister in this SAD-BJP Government, was made to step down in May 2012 after the court convicted him in a case of misuse of official machinery during his tenure as Education Minister between 1997 and 2002.
Tota Singh was booked and arrested by the Punjab vigilance department in June 2002 on the charges of forgery and having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. His name had figured in a scam regarding the recruitment of clerks in the education department.Within two months he sworn-in as Minister, he was sentenced one-year rigorous imprisonment on May 5, 2012, for misusing the official car of Punjab School Education Board and forging the log book of the vehicle. later, he was released on bail.Currently, his appeal is pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Two of the cabinet seats were vacant for almost a year when Bibi Jagir Kaur and Tota Singh tendered their resignations after their conviction by the court of law in separate cases. The third berth was vacated just about a fortnight back after the State jails and Tourism Minister Swaran Singh Phillaur put in his papers on moral grounds following alleged involvement of his son in multi-crore drug racket.
At present, the strength of the Cabinet is 15, including the Chief Minister and his Deputy Sukhbir Badal. Besides, the State has 20 chief parliamentary secretaries including Thandal.Currently the chief parliamentary secretary for irrigation, Thandal too had a controversial past and was even convicted by the court.
A three-time legislator, Thandal resigned from the post of CPS during the previous Badal Government (2007-2012) after he was convicted and sentenced to three-year imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for owning assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Thandal, an obvious choice for being a prominent scheduled caste leader and proximity to senior Badal, was booked by the State vigilance bureau in January 2003 under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly accumulating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income during the Akali Dal Government of 1997-2002.
He later appealed against his conviction in the High Court and got some relief.Daljeet Singh Cheema, the third new face in the Cabinet, is a doctor by profession. A first-timer, he stood with Badals through every thick and thin, and went on to become their trusted soldier. Even during his first stint as the party MlA, Cheema had been raising burning topics with a comprehensive approach in the state assembly.
The portfolios currently lying vacant are: Agriculture — presently headed by Badal after Tota Singh’s resignation; Rural Water Supply and Sanitation, Defence Services Welfare, and Removal of Grievances and Welfare of Pensioners — also currently headed by Badal after Jagir Kaur’s resign; and Jails, Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Archives and Museums, Printing and Stationery — currently lying vacant.