Sukhbir seeks blessings from father Parkash Singh Badal before taking oath in Amritsar on Wednesday. (PTI)

Chandigarh, Jan. 21: Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal today inducted son Sukhbir as his deputy, in what is possibly a first even in a country known for its dynastic politics.

“No portfolio will be taken away from any minister and handed to Sukhbir. The departments under me will be allocated to Sukhbir,” Badal Sr said, adding that his son would be the No. 2 in the cabinet.

For the Badals, governance is all in the family. The chief minister’s nephew Manpreet Singh Badal is finance minister and son-in-law Adesh Pratap Singh is the information technology minister. That makes four of a family in an 18-member ministry — 13 from the Shiromani Akali Dal and five from the BJP.

Bikramjit Singh Majithia, brother of Sukhbir’s wife Harsimrat Kaur, was also part of the government but he stepped down to make way for his brother-in-law.

“It is good that the young are coming forward. They have the energy and the strength to work for the betterment of the state and the country,” said National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah, who attended the swearing-in.

Abdullah had recently passed up the chief ministership of Jammu and Kashmir for son Omar.

Also in the audience was Om Prakash Chautala, who took the Haryana chief minister’s chair amid controversy when father Devi Lal became deputy Prime Minister. “Change is taking place across the world and the new generation is coming forward,” Chautala said today.

The BJP’s Maneka Gandhi and Vasundhara Raje, also present, too belong to political dynasties.

Nor is this an Indian phenomenon alone. Two brothers, David and Edward Miliband, are part of the Gordon Brown cabinet in Britain. In the US, brothers George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, were governors of Texas and Florida at the same time. Later, Jeb continued as governor while George became President.

But the Badals are possibly the first father and son to hold the top two positions in a government together.

The BJP, an alliance partner of the ruling Akali Dal, was less than enthusiastic about Sukhbir’s elevation. It fell in line after assurances that the party would be accommodated after Parkash steps down as chief minister and Sukhbir, 45, succeeds him.

Badal Sr is expected to contest the Lok Sabha polls. Sukhbir, who is the Faridkot MP, will now have to contest the Assembly election to keep his new job.

BJP president Rajnath Singh was present in Amritsar when governor S.F. Rodrigues administered the oath of office to Sukhbir. The decision to hold the swearing-in at Amritsar is a break from tradition — the ceremony is usually conducted in the capital Chandigarh.

The Opposition Congress appeared unnerved. “We lack young leaders with the same charisma as Sukhbir in the state. Earlier, our entire politics revolved around Badal, but now we will have to find faces to take on Sukhbir. The entire politics in the state will have to undergo a major upheaval. The old will have to give way to the young,” a former state party president said on condition of anonymity.

“We have been taken aback by the decision,” a Congress leader said.

Sukhbir, who visited the Golden Temple before taking oath, said his foremost task would be to eradicate corruption by introducing administrative reforms at all levels of the government.

“I will be the first one to subject myself to the test of accountability,” he said.