PLEASE ALL CABINET EXPANSION

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, April 20

Regional balance, caste and religious dynamics and above all senior party leaders managing to extract their pound of flesh. That seems to be the message from Saturday's Cabinet expansion.

Other than the" jod tod" in region, religion and caste, the Congress high command also chose to keep its senior leaders in good humour, by allowing Cabinet berths to their protégés.  Bharat Bhushan Ashu got the Cabinet berth because he enjoyed the support of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu. Vijay Inder Singla too got in because of his proximity to the Congress president.

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh too has managed to get three of his men inducted — Rana Gurmit Sodhi, Sukhbinder Sarkaria and Gurpreet Singh Kangar. Two MLAs Sunder Shyam Arora and Balbir Sidhu, considered close to Ambika Soni, will also be inducted. Sidhu is also considered close to Harish Chaudhary. 

PPCC president Sunil Jakhar, who was initially opposed to the induction of Rana Sodhi, relented later, as his "friend" Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was included in the list.