Congress stalwart Captain Amarinder Singh was on Thursday sworn in as the 26th chief minister of Punjab in the presence of an august gathering, led by top party leaders Mr. Rahul Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh.Captain Amarinder and his nine-member council of ministers was administered the oath of secrecy and allegiance by Governor V.P. Singh Badnore at a simple but impressive ceremony held amid tight security at the Punjab Raj Bhavan here. Besides seven cabinet ministers, two ministers of state have been inducted in the council of ministers by Captain Amarinder, for whom this is the second term as the chief minister of the state.The cabinet ministers who took the oath of office were the newly elected MLAs Mr. Brahm Mohindra, Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu, Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal, Mr. Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Mr. Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Mr. Rana Gurjit Singh and Mr. Charanjit Singh Channi, while Ms. Aruna Chaudhary and Ms. Razia Sultana were sworn in as Ministers of State with Independent charge. Captain Amarinder and his ministerial colleagues took the oath of office in the name of God and, after being administered the oath, signed the oath form, which was counter signed by the Governor. The state chief secretary Mr. Sarvesh Kaushal conducted the ceremony, which was attended by a host of prominent political and other dignitaries, besides eminent persons from various walks of life, in addition to family members, friends and relatives of Captain Amarinder and his colleagues in the council of ministers.
The swearing-in ceremony was graced, besides AICC vice president Mr. Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, by a host of party leaders, including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Mr. Ashok Gehlot, former Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Punjab Chief Minister Ms. Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, senior Congress leaders Ms. Ambika Soni, Mr. Kapil Sibal, Mr. Anand Sharma, Mr. Pawan Bansal, Ms. Asha Kumari, Mr. Sachin Pilot, Mr. Harish Chaudhary, Mr. Ashwani Kumar, Mr. Raj Babbar, Mr. Ashok Tanwar and Mr. Ajay Maken, Members of Parliament Mr. Ravneet Singh Bittu and Mr. Partap Singh Bajwa, as well as former Union Ministers Mr. Natwar Singh and Ms. Preneet Kaur.The Congress leaders hailed the change of guard in Punjab as a historic moment that will transform the state’s fortunes and revive its pristine glory.
Several senior editors and journalists, as well as media heads, were also present on the occasion. These included Zee Group chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Subhash Chandra, ITV chairman Mr. Venod Sharma, well-known journalist Mr. Vir Sanghvi, Hindustan Times Senior Resident Editor Mr. Ramesh Vinayak, Times of India Resident Editor Mr. Robin David and Indian Express Resident Editor Ms. Nirupama Subramanian, among others.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had called up Captain Amarinder on the day of the declaration of the results, took to Twitter to once again congratulate the new chief minister of Punjab, wishing him “the very best in working for Punjab’s development.” The chief minister tweeted his thanks in response.