Chandigarh, July 4
The AAP government in Punjab on Thursday inducted newly-elected lawmaker from Ludhiana (West), Sanjeev Arora, in the 16-member Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and allocated him Industry and NRI Affairs portfolios, but dropped one of the senior-most ministers Kuldeep Dhaliwal, who held the portfolio of NRI Affairs.
In a Cabinet reshuffle, Tarunpreet Singh Sond was divested of the Industry portfolio, but he will continue with the Rural Development, Labour and Tourism Departments.
Dhaliwal told the media that he submitted his resignation to the Chief Minister in the morning, ahead of the oath-taking ceremony.
“I have resigned on my own. Punjab comes first for me, the post is not important to me. I was told that someone else would be given a chance, so I said 'yes, definitely a chance should be given', and that is why I have resigned. I am with the party,” he told the media.
“For me, the Cabinet berth is not important; Punjab is important and I would continue to work without taking any break for the betterment of Punjab,” he added.