Punjab cabinet reshuffle: Power Minister Sanjeev Arora gets local government department too

Two portfolios of industry and commerce and investment promotion, which were earlier held by Tarunpreet Singh Sond, were given to Arora.

In a minor cabinet reshuffle, the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab on Thursday re-allocated the local government department to Power Minister Sanjeev Arora.

The department was held by Cabinet Minister Ravjot Singh.

In the reshuffle, the NRI Affairs department, which was held by Arora, has been allocated to Singh.

After the proposed changes were sent to Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria for his nod, a notification regarding the re-allocation of portfolios was issued in the evening.

Arora will continue to hold industries and commerce, investment promotion and power portfolios, besides also handling the newly allocated local government department.

Singh will continue to hold parliamentary affairs portfolio and the newly allocated NRI affairs department.

With this, Arora becomes a minister with several key portfolios which have been allocated to him within six months after he was inducted in the Mann Cabinet.

The development comes ahead of the municipal corporation elections, which are due to be held later this year.

In August last year, the Mann government had re-allocated the power portfolio to minister Arora.

The power portfolio was earlier held by minister Harbhajan Singh.

Arora was elected as an MLA in the Ludhiana West assembly bypoll in June last year and inducted as a minister in July. Earlier, he was a Rajya Sabha member.

During the last cabinet expansion in July, Kuldeep Dhaliwal was dropped as a minister and his lone portfolio of NRI Affairs was given to Arora. Two portfolios of industry and commerce and investment promotion, which were earlier held by Tarunpreet Singh Sond, were given to Arora.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)