Amarinder to meet Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on April 18
Punjab Cabinet expansion likely on April 19 or 20
By Baljit Balli
Chandigarh, April 15, 2018: Though the much awaited expansion of the Punjab Cabinet is proposed on April 19 but the final decision depends on the outcome of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s meeting with the Congress chief Rahul Gandhi a day before.
Sources in Congress high command told babushahi.com that the most probably, the Cabinet expansion might take place on April 19 or 20 if the expansion proposal by the CM gets nod of the Congress chief.
The CM will be in Delhi on April 18 for the meeting with Rahul Gandhi.
It is being hoped here that the Congress chief would not let the burning issue of expansion get further delayed. The expansion matter had been delayed a number of times in the past despite announcement of probable time frame much to the disappointment of the aspirants of the Cabinet berths.
The CM has also said in the past that running so many departments with only eight ministers was a difficult task. Even the CM himself is over-burdened. There are nine Cabinet posts to be filled.
Sources did not rule out the possibility that CM might still keep some posts vacant for future expansion but in the next round at least six new ministers are likely to be inducted. Quite a lot depends on Rahul Gandhi too for sealing the number of ministers to be finally inducted.
Notably, the recent announcement by the CM about appointment of Legislative Assistants to the current ministers was a clear signal of the coming Cabinet expansion. It was being said that the Punjab Congress leadership and the party high command were under pressure to go in for the expansion in view of the 2019 general elections. It is being felt that the palpable strain on the governance due to smaller ministry size might impact the Congress chances at the hustings adversely.