Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today said seniority was the key criterion in selecting the nine new ministers for the first expansion of the state's Cabinet.

He said there was total consensus on Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Sunder Sham Arora, O P Soni, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Gurpreet Singh Kangar and Balbir Singh Sidhu.

The names were finalised today after Amarinder Singh held a second round of discussions with Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.

The new ministers, all in the cabinet rank, will take their oath here tomorrow.  Their portfolios would be announced later, according to an official spokesperson.

Amarinder Singh said ministers of state Razia Sultana and Aruna Chaudhary will also be elevated to the Cabinet rank.

The Chief Minister said he had given his recommendations to the party high command during the course of their meetings, spread over two days.

He said the expansion of the cabinet would infuse fresh dynamism into the government, as the workload of nearly 40 departments will get divided among 18 members, including himself.

The ministers have been selected keeping in view regional representation and their strengths, he said.

This would be the first stint as a minister for all of them, but they are experienced grass-root leaders who have won several elections over the years, he said.

They were selected keeping in view their seniority, he added. O P Soni, who represents Amritsar Central, has been an MLA five times and Rana Gurmeet Sodhi four times.

Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Gurpreet Kangar and Balbir Sidhu are three-time MLAs. Sunder Sham Arora from Hoshirapur was elected to the Assembly for the second time.

Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who represents Ludhiana West, is also a two-time MLA and a former Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislative Party.

Vijay Inder Singla, who was elected to Parliament earlier in 2009, won the assembly election from Sangrur last year.  PTI