Haryana Cabinet

HOODA SWORN-IN AS HARYANA CM

CHANDIGARH: The Congress Member of Parliament from Rohtak in Haryana, Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on 5 March became the 19^th Chief Minister of Haryana.

He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Governor, Shri A.R. Kidwai, at a brief ceremony in Raj Bhavan in the presence of the three Congress central observers _ Union Minister, Shri P.M. Sayeed and AICC general secretaries Shri Janardhan Dwivedi and Shri Ashok Gehlot _ and the former Haryana Chief Minister and now president of the State unit of the party, Shri Bhajan Lal, Shri Hooda's father, Shri Ranbir Singh, were also present on the dais.

Union Minister, Ms. Selja and several MPs attended the ceremony. Earlier, talking to journalists, Shri Hooda said that his foremost priorities would be to resolve the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal imbroglio, improve the law and order situation and provide a clean, responsive and transparent administration.

He also affirmed his resolve to weed out corruption without indulging in political vengeance and said that action would be taken against those who had taken against those who had violated rules and amassed ill-gotten wealth. He also asserted that there was unity in the Congress.

New Ministers

CHANDIGARH: The new Haryana Chief Minister, Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on March 10 expanded his Cabinet by inducting 10 ministers of Cabinet rank. The new ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Governor, Shri A.R. Kidwai, at a simple ceremony in Raj Bhavan here.

Among those who have been appointed ministers are Shri Chander Mohan, son of the former Chief Minister and now president of the Haryana unit of the Congress, Shri Bhajan Lal, Shri Ajay Singh Yadav, Shri Birender Singh, Shri Kartar Devi, Shri L.D. Arora and Shri Phool Chand Mullana, all former Haryana Ministers, Shri Randeep Singh Surjewala, working president of the Haryana unit of the Congress, Shri Om Prakash Jindal, noted industrialist and father of Kurukshetra MP, Shri Navin Jindal, Shri Surender Singh, son of the former Chief Minister, Shri Bansi Lal; and former Union Minister, Shri Venod Sharma.

Shri Bhajan Lal and his son, Shri Kuldeep Bishnoi, MP from Bhiwani, were among those sitting in the VIP enclosure at the swearing-in ceremony. Later, in a brief chat with mediapersons, Shri Hooda said the portfolios would be allocated in a day or two. Asked whether there was any move to appoint a Deputy Chief Minister, his brief reply was that all the ministers appointed today would hold Cabinet rank

While claiming that all sections, all regions and constituencies had been given representation, he hinted that three more Ministers would be appointed shortly. On whether the members of the Sikh and Muslim communities would be given representation in the Cabinet, he reiterated that he was yet to induct three more ministers and Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly were also yet to be appointed.

Asked whether he would appoint a Chief Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Secretaries, he said that they would be appointed only if the workload so demanded. The session of the Vidhan Sabha would be convened later this month after consultation with the Governor, he added.

Congress Wins Ajnala Assembly Seat

CHANDIGARH: The ruling Congress in Punjab on 2 March kept up its winning streak in Assembly bye-elections, wresting the Ajnala seat when its candidate Shri Harpartap Singh overwhelmed his rival Amarpal Singh alias "Bony" of the Shiromani Akali Dal by 19,246 votes.

The bye-election for Ajnala was necessitated after former Akali Minister, Shri Rattan Singh vacated the seat following his election to Parliament from Tarn Taran. The Akali Dal had this time fielded his son to defend the seat.