Chandigarh/New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, his two deputies and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday took a chartered flight to Delhi to discuss the formation of the new cabinet with the party's central leadership, sources said.
Channi, his two deputies Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and O P Soni, along with Sidhu, met AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.
AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat was also present during the meeting.
The Congress approved the names of Pargat Singh and Yoginder Pal Dhingra as the new general secretaries of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Gulzar Inder Chahal was appointed as the PPCC treasurer, according to an official AICC statement.
"We will take a decision on the new Punjab cabinet very soon," Rawat said when asked about the pending exercise after the change of guard in the state. Channi, his two deputies and Sidhu earlier met veteran party leader Ambika Soni at her residence.
They met Venugopal at his residence, along with Rawat, and held discussions on the formulation of the new Punjab cabinet. Channi and others were to meet Rahul Gandhi but the meeting could not take place as he is not in Delhi.
Earlier in the day, Sidhu uploaded a photo on Twitter showing him with Channi and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, one of the two deputy chief ministers, beside a chartered plane. In line of duty, he tweeted.
However, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party questioned the use of a chartered flight by Channi and the other Congress leaders.
Taking a swipe at them, the SAD said the Congress leaders took private jets for travelling just 250 km to Delhi", while the AAP said the Congress could not give up its royal habits.
Channi, Randhawa and the other deputy chief minister, O P Soni, were sworn in on Monday, two days after Amarinder Singh resigned as chief minister of the poll-bound state. After hectic consultations, the party had picked Channi as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party.
Randhawa, a Jat Sikh, and Soni, a Hindu, were apparently chosen to balance the caste equations. Sources said the cabinet is likely to see the induction of fresh faces after the Delhi meeting.
There are indications that those who rallied behind Sidhu in the power tussle with Amarinder Singh will find a place in the new cabinet. The names of Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Madan Lal Jalalpur, Inderbir Singh Bolaria, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Pargat Singh and Sangat Singh Gilzian are doing the rounds.
Pargat Singh, considered close to Sidhu, is at present the Punjab Congress general secretary, and Gilzian is a working president of the party's state unit.
It will be interesting to see whether Amarinder Singh's staunch loyalists--Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, who was the sports minister, and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, who was the social justice empowerment minister--could retain their positions in the Channi-led cabinet.
A few MLAs, including Balbir Singh Sidhu, who was considered close to Amarinder Singh and was the health minister, and legislator Parminder Singh Pinky were in Delhi on Tuesday. Sources said Channi is likely to go to Amritsar on Wednesday to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. PTI
