SNE NETWORK.CHANDIGARH.
The Modi government is going to come to power for the third time at the center, but this time there is no leader from Punjab who can become a part of the Union Cabinet. The alliance of BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal has broken in Punjab. BJP does not have any MP from Punjab.
Only Harsimrat Kaur Badal has won her seat from Shiromani Akali Dal, but she is not a part of NDA. BJP also does not have any member in Rajya Sabha. In such a situation, it is being speculated that this time Punjab’s bag may remain empty in the Modi cabinet.
In the Lok Sabha elections held in Punjab, Congress has got seven seats, Shiromani Akali Dal has got one, AAP has got three seats, while two MPs have won as independents. BJP does not have a single MP who can be made a part of the Union Cabinet. The discussion is common whether this time there will be no one to raise the voice of Punjab in the Union Cabinet.
Be it the Congress government or the BJP, Punjab has always got representation in the central government. In 2019, Hardeep Puri had certainly lost the election from Amritsar, but still he was made a minister at the center. He was sent to Rajya Sabha and given the post of Union Minister. In 2014, Arun Jaitley may have lost from Amritsar in Punjab, but he was given a ministerial post at the Centre from Rajya Sabha. In 2014, Vijay Sampla was also made Union Minister of State. In 2019, Hoshiarpur MP Somprakash was made Union Minister of State along with Hardeep Puri. Not only this, Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal, who was in the alliance, was also given the status of Cabinet Minister.
He was also given importance in the Congress government
In 2009, Ambika Soni, Manish Tiwari and Ashwani Kumar were given place in the Union Cabinet from Punjab. Tiwari had won the Lok Sabha from Ludhiana. Soni was the Minister of Tourism and Culture from 29 January 2006 to 22 May 2009. From 22 May 2009 to 27 October 2012, he served as Information and Broadcasting Minister. In July 2010, he was re-elected to Rajya Sabha. Ashwani Kumar has also been a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab. In 2014, Ambika Soni contested from Anandpur Sahib but lost, but Congress gave her a seat in Rajya Sabha.
These leaders from Punjab also got a place in the cabinet
1- Sukhdev Dhindsa was the Minister of Sports and Chemicals and Fertilizers in the Vajpayee cabinet from 2000 to 2004.
2- Sukhbir Badal was the Union Minister of State for Industry in the second Vajpayee cabinet during 1998 to 1999. He was also a member of Rajya Sabha during 2001 to 2004.
3- Raghunandan Lal Bhatia, who won from Amritsar, was the Union Minister of State for External Affairs.
4- Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder was an MP from Gurdaspur and a Union Minister. She represented the Gurdaspur constituency in the Lok Sabha from 1980 to 1996.
5- Sarwan Singh entered the cabinet of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1952 and was the last surviving member of that government. He spent 23 years of his life as a high-ranking cabinet minister in the Government of India.
6- Parkash Singh Badal, Surjit Singh Barnala have also served as Union ministers.