CHANDIFARH – South Asian LINK editor R. Paul Dhillon was on hand at Government House (Raj Bhawan) in Chandigarh in Sector 6, where Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh and Cabinet swearing in and oath taking was held Thursday morning. The surprising thing coming out of the record 77-member swearing in ceremony was that veteran Punjab Congressman and 7-time MLA Brahm Mohindra, who was sworn in as number Two behind Amarinder Singh. Mohindra, who is now the senior most minister after Chief Minister, has been given the portfolios of Health and Family Welfare, Research and Medical Education and Parliamentary Affairs.
Dhilon’s family is long-time acquainted with Mohindra with his cousin Sahibjit Singh Sandhu being one of Mohindra’s closest confidantes. Dhillon said he met up with Mohindra following the swearing in and chatted with him about many issues and those close to NRIs and he promised an open-door policy. “The NRIs are our brothers and we welcome them home in Punjab and we are here to listen to them. I welcomed them all to make Punjab the Golden Sparrow that it has long been in India,”
Dhillon said he witnessed a change in Congress in terms of how it will carry out it’s agenda and it was visibe by the simple, cost effective and low-key affair in the Swearng In compared to the way Loot-Le-Punjab Akalis did when they won their second straight term.
“It was in keeping with CM Capt. Amarinder’s new approach to clean up Punjab’s finances which are disarray following 10 years of Akali largesse. But obviously it’s time for Congress to eat the Goodies as per tradition in Indian state and central governments that the spoils go to the Victor no matter the financial or social ill state of the political system,” Dhillon said.
“Our friend Brahm Mohindra was given the great honour of taking Oath at Number #2 for his 7-term election as MLA and he is sure to get a top cabinet post. As per protocol – if anything happens to Capt. – Mohindra will be de facto Chief Minister because of him being second in the swearing in order.
“Congrats and big credit for the land-slide Congress win goes to Capt. Amarinder and Navjot Sidhu, who seems to have luck on his side wherever he goes. Kejriwal had the choice of projecting Sidhu as Chief Minister and refused and AAP lost badly even though they will form the official Opposition. But choosing Phoolka over natural political leader Sukhpal Khaira is another bonehead move by Kejriwal. If AAP ever hopes to win, they need strong sharp political men alongside Aam Aadmi types as the lesson to learn from this election is that the urban and Hindu population who have the votes and the education must play a bigger role in AAP,” Dhillon concluded.
Dhilon also met with Captain Amarinder Singh and his right-hand NRI man Garry Grewal and hung out the famed Chandigarh Golf Club along with Surrey-based businessman Jasdev Randhawa.
