For deputy CM’s post, AAP’s Punjab unit pitches names of 3 MLAs who’ve won for the second time

Legislators and district-level office bearers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which recorded a landslide victory with 92 out of 117 seats in the Punjab assembly elections, are pushing three names for the post of deputy chief minister — Harpal Singh Cheema, Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Aman Arora — ThePrint has learnt.

All three have been elected as MLAs for the second time.

This time, AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal made no pre-poll announcement on the party’s deputy CM candidate for Punjab. Ahead of the 2017 state assembly elections, he had announced that AAP’s deputy CM face would be a Dalit if it came to power. The party won 20 seats and ended up as the principal opposition. It appointed Dalit face Harpal Singh Cheema as Leader of Opposition in 2018 after Sukhpal Khaira turned rebel amid severe infighting in the party.

A senior AAP leader in Punjab told ThePrint there are also chances that CM-designate Bhagwant Mann decides not to appoint a deputy. In such a scenario, Cheema, Sandhwan and Arora become top contenders for the most sought after cabinet portfolios such as finance, home and local bodies.

On Sunday, Kejriwal was in Amritsar, addressing a joint roadshow with Mann. Senior party leaders said the two were supposed to deliberate on the cabinet after the roadshow. Mann is scheduled to take oath as chief minister on 16 March and the cabinet names are slated to be announced by then, they added.

The Punjab cabinet has space for 17 ministerial posts, excluding the CM, Mann had said in his address to all MLAs in Mohali Friday.

After the Friday meeting with MLAs, the party’s Punjab co-in-charge Raghav Chadha told the media that “this is Bhagwant Mann government. He will decide who will take oath as ministers”, amid speculation that Kejriwal will be taking the final decisions from Delhi.

Three prominent faces

Cheema, the elected MLA from Dirba constituency, is a former Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly. He is also a prominent Dalit face and had ubiquitous presence in the party’s posters with national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Mann, several party functionaries told ThePrint.

Asked about his chances, Cheema told the media: “I have always been a warrior who led from the front in every battle for the party. I am sure people have trust in me and so they have voted me to power again. The final decision will be taken by the high command.”

Kotkapura MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan too is a prominent face of the AAP in Punjab and has influence across Faridkot, Bathinda and Moga districts, another senior leader told ThePrint.

Meanwhile, Sunam MLA Aman Arora is a prominent Hindu face of the party, who is believed to be close to Mann. In 2018, when Mann had resigned from the post of the party’s Punjab president after Kejriwal apologised to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia for alleging that he was involved in the drug trade, Arora too had quit AAP. Both of them were coaxed into rejoining after Kejriwal intervened in the matter.

Both Sandhwan and Arora refused to comment on the possibilities of them being considered for a top cabinet post.