AAP-led Punjab minister found running non-existent dept for 20 months; BJP hits out

BJP's Pradeep Bhandari criticizes AAP for governance mockery in Punjab after minister heads non-existent department for 20 months.

BJP leader Pradeep Bhandari slammed the Aam Aadmi Party for what he described was a mockery of governance in Punjab after State Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was found heading a "non-existent" department for 20 months.

In a post on X, Mr. Bhandari said, "AAP has made Governance in Punjab a joke! The AAP Minister ran a department for 20 Months that never existed! Imagine that for 20 months, the CM did not even know that a minister was running a " NON EXISTENT DEPARTMENT."

According to a Punjab government Gazette notification released on February 21, Mr. Dhaliwal who holds the portfolio of the NRI Affairs department was allocated the charge of the Department of Administrative Reforms, which the Government now says does not exist.

"In partial modification of Punjab Government Notification No. 2/1/2022-2Cabinet/2230 dated September 23, 2024, regarding allocation of portfolios amongst the Ministers, the Department of Administrative Reforms earlier allotted to Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Cabinet Minister is not in existence as on date," the notification read.

The last cabinet reshuffle in Punjab government was in September 2024 when CM Bhagwant Mann dropped four ministers and inducted five fresh faces into his cabinet, besides reallocation of portfolios.

Tarunpreet Singh Sond, Barinder Kumar Goyal, Ravjot Singh, Hardeep Singh Mundian, and Mohinder Bhagat took their oaths as Ministers at Raj Bhavan.

CM Mann retained eight ministries, including Home Affairs & Justice, Legal & Legislative Affairs, and Sports & Youth Services.