India / Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, OP Soni sworn in as Punjab Deputy CMs

Chandigarh: Punjab Congress leaders Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni were sworn in as the two deputies to Charanjit Singh Channi, who took oath as the 16th chief minister of the state in Chandigarh on Monday.

Outgoing chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who submitted his resignation to Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday following months of differences with Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, skipped Channi’s swearing-in ceremony.

Channi and Randhawa were among the four cabinet ministers who had rebelled against Capt Amarinder. Soni was also a minister in the cabinet.

On Sunday, Channi was unanimously elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party of Punjab after a day of hectic parleys and feedback gathering by AICC Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat and central observers Ajay Maken and Harish Chaudhary.

After the announcement of the new chief minister, Rawat had said that there will be two deputy chief ministers in the state. “One deputy chief minister will be from the Jat Sikh community and the other will be from the Hindu community,” he said.

Senior party leader and former Chandigarh MP Pawan Kumar Bansal had even congratulated Mohindra on his appointment as deputy CM on Twitter on Sunday. “Heartiest congratulations to Charanjit Singh Channi for elevation as Punjab CM and Brahm Mohindra and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa as Dy CMs. Best wishes for their grand success in the service of Punjab under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.”