Chandigarh: Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has emerged as the new power house in Punjab Congress after the exit of Captain Amarinder Singh, once commented that punishing a wrongdoer is not vendetta but justice. Separately, he had also stated that he would fight corruption without fear.
The fact that Sidhu has selected a ‘tainted’ party leader to be among the 15 who took the oath as ministers of new cabinet of chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi has not gone down well in the party.
Hours before the induction ceremony, as many as seven party MLAs, including Sidhu’s predecessor Mohinder Singh Kaypee, wrote to him demanding that Rana Gurjeet Singh be dropped as he was known as a corrupt face in the Doaba region.
Channi who identified himself as an “aam aadmi” and in his recent address announced that either he will remain or corruption, was sent a similar letter by these seven MLAs.
But their request seems to have gone unheard.
In the letter, the MLAs stated that public and Congress cadre alike are unhappy with the inclusion of Rana Gurjeet Singh. Rana Gurjeet had been dropped from the cabinet of former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh in January 2018 due to the infamous mining scandal involving him, his family and his companies.
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The letter further stated that the Punjab government had forfeited approximately Rs 25 crore deposited by Rana Gurjeet’s ‘front company’, Rajbir Enterprises, during the auction of three mining sites in Punjab.
“Justice Narang Commission that probed the minister, brought out a startling fact that the front company of Rana Gurjeet Singh had received Rs 5 crore gratification/contribution for the said mining auction from Rs 2000 crore irrigation scamster Gurinder Singh Bhapa charged by Vigilance Bureau and now in custody,” the letter added.
A photo tweeted by ANI of Rana Gurjeet Singh’s oath taking. Photo: Twitter/@ANI
“We wonder why Rana Gurjeet Singh is included in the cabinet as he was dropped in January 2018 because of above charges and has got no clean chit from any court or the government,” MLAs further pressed, asking Sidhu and Channi to include a ‘clean’ face instead.
The MLAs also wrote that it was amusing that all three ministers proposed to be included in the cabinet from Doaba region are Jat Sikhs and that there is only one minister from the Other Backward Classes when the Dalit population in the region is approximately 38%.
Apart from Mohinder Singh Kaypee, the MLAs supported the letter were Navtej Singh Cheema (Sultanpur), Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal (Phagwara), Bawa Henry (Jalandhar North), Dr Raj Kumar (Chabewal), Pawan Aditya (Sham Chaurasi) and Sukhpal Singh Khaira (Bholath).
Also read: From Being a Rebel, Sidhu Emerges As a Major Power Centre in Punjab Congress
Party blunder, says Khaira
Khaira, who even met Sidhu in Patiala and requested him to drop Rana Gurjeet before the induction ceremony at Punjab governor house on Sunday evening, said that the party has committed a blunder by inducting him into the cabinet while he is still facing charges of illegal mining and the Enforcement Directorate is still investigating him.
“I don’t know why the party has taken the decision but it is quite an unpopular one. It will have a negative impact as the elections are around the corner,” Khaira told The Wire.
He continued, “We have no personal fight against him (Rana Gurjeet). But the decision to induct him will stand out as a wrong one because allegations of the mining scandal continue to stick to him. Our fight will continue. We will step up our campaign and if need be, we will also go to Delhi,” he said
‘Humiliated,’ say dropped ministers
As many as five ministers in Amarinder Singh’s old cabinet, who are also his close aides – Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Balbir Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Sunder Sham Arora and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot – have been dropped.
Two of them – Balbir Singh Sidhu and Gurpreet Singh Kangar – held a joint news conference here shortly before the cabinet expansion, asking why they had been dropped.
Balbir Sidhu even broke down asking what his “fault” was. Kangar, too, asked the same question.
‘I am a soldier of Sonia Gandhi. They should have asked for my resignation and I would have given it happily. People in my area are disappointed. I am not upset with losing my ministry, I have no greed for power. But I want to ask what was the need to humiliate us?” Balbir said.
Also read: Seven New Faces Likely in Punjab Cabinet, 5 From Amarinder’s Term May Not Find a Place
He said he had made himself available round-the-clock when the pandemic was at its peak and that he and his entire family had contracted COVID-19.
Kangar said that when he held the power department portfolio, he would attend to complaints related to power even late in the night and try to resolve them fast.
When he held the revenue department, Kangar said, he digitised the records.
Meanwhile, seven new faces who took oath were working president Sangat Singh Gilzian, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Punjab Pradesh Congress general secretary Pargat Singh, Dr Raj Kumar Veraka, Rana Gurjeet Singh and former chief minister Beant Singh’s grandson, Gurkirat Singh Kotli.
The names who have been retained from the old cabinet are Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Badal, Sukhbinder Sarkaria, Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Vijay Inder Singla, Aruna Chaudhary, Razia Sultana and Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
Rahul’s man refuses to join cabinet over farm issues
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra, who is close to Rahul Gandhi, refused to join the Punjab cabinet on the grounds that he had already resigned as MLA in protest against three agricultural laws brought by the Modi government.
His resignation has still not been accepted by the Vidhan Sabha Speaker. “I think no chair of any minister, nor any post has any value in wake of the farm protests. I have made it clear that I will not be joining the state cabinet,” Nagra told reporters.
Following Nagra’s refusal, the party inducted Randeep Singh Nabha at the last minute in his place. While his resignation has still not been accepted, his protest has been recorded in the public eye.
Nagra was among the working presidents who were appointed by Sidhu.
Opposition too slams Sidhu
Both Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party have criticised Sidhu for the induction of Rana Gurjeet Singh into the new cabinet.
AAP’s Leader of Opposition Harpal Cheema told The Wire that Rana Gurjeet’s induction is clear evidence of Sidhu’s doublespeak on corruption. “When he was not in the Congress government, he would lock horns over corruption with the Captain’s government. He used to say that he would put behind bars all those responsible for looting Punjab on mining issues, if given the opportunity. Now, instead of taking action against Rana Gurjeet who was indicted by Congress government itself, Sidhu is fine with him being taken back into the cabinet. The irony is that Rana Gurjeet is still facing serious charges and is yet to be absolved of them. His induction in to cabinet is a serious matter and we will fight it tooth and nail,” he added
Meanwhile, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal held a press conference and also flayed Sidhu on Rana Gurjeet’s induction. “Rana Gurjeet was dropped earlier from cabinet because of corruption charges. This makes the agenda of the Congress very clear – they will only indulge in corruption in the next three months before the fresh polls.”
He appealed to the Punjab bureaucracy not to take any decision that is harmful to the interest of the state. “We will review all decisions of the Congress government if we are able to form government,” said Badal
“Channi, in the morning, made a statement that he will break the backbone of the sand mafia. Here you have made the kingpin of the sand mafia minister again…what action will you ever take against them? The whole of Congress is in hand in glove with corruption,” alleged Badal.
Politics at play
Political commentator Harjeshwar Pal Singh said that Rana Gurjeet is a strong Congress leader who dominates Kapurthala district as well as parts of Jalandhar and Tarn Taran, and commands the support of at least 3-4 MLAs.
“If Rana had not been accommodated, he would have gone to the Akali Dal. By inducting him, they have made Amarinder’s comeback harder by taking in one of his strongest allies,” he said.
According to him, this move has also checked Sukhpal Khaira who has ambitions of his own and had been inducted by Captain.
There are others who feel that the move will give handle to opposition against Sidhu.
Ashutosh Kumar, political science teacher at Panjab University, said that while it may be a political compulsion for Sidhu, it has sent a wrong message to the public ahead of the assembly election.
“In Gujarat, BJP changed the whole cabinet after changing the CM but Congress could not do this in a similar attempt to soften anti-incumbency against the government,” he said.
Note: This article is being updated as developments take place.
