Punjab minister headed non-existent dept for 20 months, BJP mocks ‘Kejriwal Model’

The decision, formalised through a gazette notification issued by the Chief Secretary on Friday, is part of a larger administrative restructuring that also saw the transfer of 21 IPS officers.

The move has drawn sharp criticism from the BJP and Akali Dal.

"The Department of Administrative Reforms earlier allotted to Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Cabinet Minister, is not in existence as of date," the notification stated, clarifying that Dhaliwal would retain only the NRI Affairs portfolio, the report said.

According to sources, the AAP government was caught off guard when it realised the department had never formally existed.

However, Dhaliwal downplayed the controversy, stating, "We are here to do service and save Punjab, not fight for departments. This is not an agenda for us."

Chief Minister Mann blamed previous governments for the confusion, claiming that a "proper system" was now in place.

He noted that minister Aman Arora already oversees related governance reforms under his multiple portfolios.

BJP, Akali Dal slam AAP

The BJP took jabs at the AAP government over the episode, mocking it as part of the “Kejriwal Model.”

Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, tweeted, "Punjab had a Minister for Administrative Reforms but no Ministry of Administrative Reforms. The AAP government headed by Bhagwant Mann was blissfully unaware of this till it erased the tag. This is Kejriwal Model."

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya went further, calling AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal "a charlatan who must be banished from public life."

Akali Dal leaders also weighed in, accusing AAP of being “remote-controlled” from Delhi.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal said Punjab was being run by outside forces, while Bikram Majithia remarked, "Neither the minister nor the government knew the department didn’t exist. The real face of AAP has been exposed."

State BJP leader Fatehjang Singh Bajwa warned against electing AAP in other states, calling them “clowns.”

Reshuffle ahead of Punjab Assembly session

The restructuring comes just ahead of a two-day Punjab Assembly session on February 24-25. Along with scrapping the department, the government has transferred 21 IPS officers, reshuffling police leadership across multiple districts.

Sources at the Punjab Advocate General’s office also indicated that the state leadership was considering mass resignations of government lawyers as part of further changes.

The development follows AAP’s major electoral setback in the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls, sparking speculation that the party is shifting its power base to Punjab—the only state where it remains in power.