Chandigarh, Jul 3 (PTI) Newly elected Ludhiana West MLA Sanjeev Arora was inducted as a Cabinet minister on Thursday while Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was dropped after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann effected the seventh Cabinet reshuffle in the past three years. Arora’s induction followed Dhaliwal’s resignation from the Punjab Cabinet. His lone portfolio, NRI Affairs, was given to the newly elected MLA. Also Read | Who Is Soham Parekh, Indian Techie Accused of Duping Multiple Companies? What鈥檚 His Reaction to Allegations of Moonlighting?. Arora was also given the portfolio of Industry and Commerce and Investment Promotion, which were earlier held by Tarunpreet Singh Sond, who is now left with Tourism & Culture Affairs, Labour, Hospitality, and Rural Development & Panchayats departments. With Arora’s induction and Dhaliwal’s resignation, the strength of the Mann Cabinet remained unchanged at 16. The Punjab Cabinet can have 18 ministers, including the chief minister. Also Read | Bihar Electoral Roll Revision Row: Congress Slams Election Commission’s Voter List Revision, Calls It a ‘Tughlaki Farman’. After the news of his resignation emerged on social media, Dhaliwal, an MLA from Ajnala constituency, in a post on X wrote, “My hard work continues for the welfare of the people of Punjab.” Later, Dhaliwal said he gave his resignation to CM Mann after he was told that somebody else would be given a chance in the Cabinet. The Ajnala MLA further said he was also told that he will be given some other work even as he asserted that he is a loyal soldier of the Aam Aadmi Party, which he joined in December 2015. Dhaliwal became the minister when the Mann government expanded his Cabinet for the first time in July 2022. He had earlier held agriculture and rural development and panchayat departments. Meanwhile, CM Mann extended best wishes to Arora upon becoming the minister. “Sanjeev Arora ji has been given the responsibility of Industry & Commerce, Investment Promotion, NRI Affairs departments. I hope that Sanjeev Arora ji will live up to the expectations of the people of Punjab. He will work with full honesty and without any discrimination for the development of Punjab and the welfare of 3 crore people of the state,” Mann said in a post on X. Arora also thanked CM Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal for placing their faith in him and promised that he would perform his new responsibility with honesty and dedication. Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria administered an oath of office and secrecy to Arora in a swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan here. CM Mann, several cabinet ministers and other party leaders were present on this occasion. Arora was elected as an MLA in the June 19 Ludhiana West assembly bypoll after defeating Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu by a margin of 10,637 votes. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January. During the bypoll campaign, Kejriwal said that Arora would be made a minister if he was elected a legislator. The AAP government carried out its last cabinet reshuffle in September last year when it inducted five new ministers after dropping four. Arora (61) is a Ludhiana-based industrialist and is also known for his social welfare work. He runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust. A businessman-turned-politician, Arora became a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab in 2022. On Tuesday, he submitted his resignation from the Upper House to Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who accepted it. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)