Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday inducted five new Cabinet ministers in the government. Aam Aadmi Party MLAs- Hardeep Singh Mundian, Barinder Kumar Goyal, Tarunpreet Singh Sond, Mahinder Bhagat and Ravjot Singh took oath as Cabinet ministers.
Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Katariya administered oath to all five MLAs during a swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhawan. This comes hours after Mann removed his Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Onkar Singh from the post.
Earlier, four ministers -- Chetan Singh Jouramajra (public relations, defence services and horticulture), Anmol Gagan Maan (tourism and investment promotion), Balkar Singh (local government and parliamentary affairs) and Bram Shanker Jimpa (revenue) -- were dropped from the Mann Cabinet.
Currently, the strength of the Mann-led Cabinet is 15, including the chief minister. There can be a maximum of 18 ministers in the Cabinet.
With the induction of five ministers and dropping of four, the strength of the Cabinet is 16.
The Cabinet rejig came days after AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal was released from the Tihar Jail upon being granted bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy case.