Carrying out the first expansion of his Council of Ministers after the completion of 100 days of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Government, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday inducted five new faces — two-times MLA Aman Arora, radiologist-turned-politician Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, cop-turned-politician Fauja Singh Sarari, a farmer Chetan Singh Jauramajra, and singer-turned-politician Anmol Gagan Mann.

With this, Punjab Cabinet now has 15 ministers, including the Chief Minister. As per the sanctioned strength, Punjab Cabinet can have a total of 18 Ministers, including the Chief Minister. Three berths are yet to be filled. Now, the Cabinet has two women ministers.

Of the total, nine Cabinet Ministers are from the politically-significant Malwa region, with five from Majha, and just one from Doaba. On Monday, no Minister was taken from the Doaba region, with one representing the Majha region.

Mann said that he would be allocating the portfolios to all the new Ministers in a day or two. It has been learnt that while the Chief Minister, who is currently holding the charge of a whopping 29 Ministries, will distribute some of the portfolios to new Ministers, portfolios of the Cabinet Ministers may also be reshuffled.

A wave of resentment was prevailing among the senior party leaders, especially those who have been elected for the second time, for not finding any space in Mann’s Cabinet. Till now, the Cabinet had only two MLAs, elected for the second term, in its Cabinet — Harpal Singh Cheema and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer.

Now, two-time Sunam MLA Aman Arora has also been accommodated, while claims of Principal Budh Ram, Sarvjit Kaur Manuke, and Prof Baljinder Kaur have been overlooked. Two other second-time MLAs — Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Jai Krishan Rouri — have been named Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker and deputy speaker, respectively.

Leaving out party’s one of the foremost firebrand leader Arora at the time of Cabinet formation was a surprising decision. And that too when Arora had proved his might by winning the 2022 assembly polls from Sunam for the second consecutive term with the highest margin of 75,277 votes, leading to forfeiture of security deposits of all his rivals.

His father Bhagwan Dass Arora was the former Congress MLA. In 2017, Arora won with a margin of 30,000 votes. Before joining AAP, Arora has unsuccessfully contested on Congress ticket from Sunam in 2007, and 2012 elections.

A young Punjabi singer Anmol Gagan Mann, who was also known for singing ‘Kejriwal Anthem’, is the second woman minister in the Cabinet. The 32-year-old Anmol Gagan will be representative of the youth and also the woman.

First-time MLA from Kharar, Anmol Gagan belongs to Mansa — a constituency represented by the ‘sacked’ Health Minister Dr Vijay Singla, who is facing corruption charges. It is believed that an attempt was made to strike a balance.

Anmol Gagan was also actively involved in the protest against the Centre’s three controversial farm laws, now repealed, and later decided to join AAP ahead of polls. She has been party’s active youth volunteer.

The 66-year-old Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar is a MD in Radio Diagnosis. MLA from Amritsar South, he is also the current president of Chief Khalsa Diwan — a 117-year-old Sikh organisation which is the central organization of various Singh Sabhas spread across Punjab.

Dr Nijjar, adding experience to the comparatively young Cabinet, has been first named as Protem Speaker and had administered oath to all legislators. He is known for his philanthropy in the region.

A former cop Fauja Singh Sarari, Guru Har Sahai MLA, hails from the Rai Sikh community. The 61-year-old had retired as the Station House Officer.

A farmer by profession, 55-year-old Chetan Singh Jouramajra is Samana MLA in Patiala. Also serving as the president of AAP’s Patiala district rural unit, Jouramajra hog the limelight ffor his bravery in March 2019 when he received a gunshot by unidentified assailants while he tried to save a girl from kidnapping in Tarn Taran.

However, the party has ignored the giant-killers, who defeated the who’s who of Punjab politics including four former Chief Ministers — Capt Amarinder Singh, Parkash Singh Badal, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and Charanjit Singh Channi — in the February’s Assembly polls, in the current expansion.

Aam Aadmi Party had stormed to power by bagging 92 seats in the 117-member Punjab Vidhan Sabha during the state assembly polls.

KNOW YOUR MINISTERS

Aman Arora, 47, Sunam MLA

Aman Arora’s political graph virtually gives credence to the general perception of AAP being more important than the candidate it fields. After facing back-to-back defeats as Congress candidate from Sunam in 2007 and 2012, Arora’s luck took a turn when he joined AAP in 2016. In 2017, he won the seat for the first time by a margin of 30,000 votes, while retaining the seat in 2022 by winning it with highest margin of 75277 votes. Born in a Congress family and son of former Congress MLA Bhagwan Das Arora, Arora is believed to have been rewarded as AAP performed well in his segment during the recently-concluded Sangrur Lok Sabha byelections, which the party lost to SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjeet Singh Mann. Notably, Arora had resigned from AAP when Delhi Chief Minister and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal had submitted a written apology to SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia over his drug allegations in 2018. AAP convenor managed to convince Arora to remain in the party.

Chetan Singh Jouramajra, 55, Samana MLA

A farmer by profession hailing from the Sarari border area of Ferozepur, Jouramajra hogged the limelight when he was shot by unidentified assailants while trying to prevent the kidnapping of a girl in Taran Tarn. Impressed by his brave act, Kejriwal rewarded AAP’s Patiala district rural president with an election ticket. Jouramajra used to work as a daily wage earner in a construction factory in South Korea. Leading a life full of struggles, he was four years old when his father passed away. He left his studies midway, and took the responsibility of his family. He himself has told several times that his family’s financial condition was so poor that they could not even buy a scooter. In the 2022 polls, Jouramajra defeated heavyweight Surjit Singh Rakhra and Congress' Rajinder Singh with a huge margin of 39,713 votes. Before entering politics in 2013, he was a social activist.

Fouja Singh Sarari, 61, Guru Har Sahai MLA

The cop-turned politician, representing the Rai Sikh community having sizeable presence in the Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat currently represented by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, defeated the Akali leader Vardev Singh alias Noni Mann by nearly 11,000 votes. He joined the state police force in 1985 as a constable in Bathinda district, and retired as inspector in 2020 after serving the Police Department for nearly four decades. After retirement, he was influenced by Kejriwal, and joined AAP. Also a good sportsman during his college days, Fauja Singh has won a bronze medal in the state-level competition in long jump. After becoming an MLA, he had said that he wanted to rid the youth of his area from drugs. For this, he had talked about promoting sports competitions.

Anmol Gagan Mann, 32, Kharar MLA

Known for openly speaking against the Centre during the farmers' movement, Anmol Gagan has also made a mark as a singer and composer in Punjabi music industry. Hailing from Mansa district but brought up in Mohali, Anmol Gagan won the elections by defeating real estate baron and SAD candidate Ranjit Singh Gill by a margin of 37,885 votes. In December 2021, AAP decided to field her in place of sitting MLA and veteran journalist Kanwar Sandhu from Kharar. Also known as Gagandeep Kaur Maan, she took up music and dance at an early age. She also moved to England in 2014 where she participated in the World Folk Dance Competition and was declared winner. Earlier in 2013, Anmol Gagan obtained her graduation degree in Psychology and Music from MCM DAV College, Chandigarh. She also wore the crown of Miss Mohali Punjaban at Miss World Punjaban in 2013.

Inderbir Singh Nijjar, 66, Amritsar South MLA

A radiologist by profession, the 66-year-old politician was elected from Amritsar South constituency. He was elected the protem speaker of the assembly when the AAP formed the government. In 2020, he was among 14 doctors booked for alleged misappropriation of funds under ex-servicemen contributory health scheme. In his poll affidavit, Dr Nijjar claimed that he was declared an innocent in the case during probe by an additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP).