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6 Punjab Congress MLAs oppose tainted MLA Rana Gurjit Singh’s comeback as minister
Shoot off a letter to Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, demanding that Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh be dropped from the list of ministers
Hours before the swearing-in of the new Punjab cabinet, six MLAs from Doaba on Sunday shot off a letter to state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, demanding that Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh be dropped from the list of ministers over his alleged involvement in corruption.
A copy of the letter was also marked to chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, it is learnt.
The ruling party legislators said the cabinet berth instead should be given to a Dalit leader from the region. The party, however, went ahead with Rana Gurjit’s swearing-in as minister.
The six MLAs are Navtej Singh Cheema (Sultanpur Lodhi), Sukhpal Singh Khaira (Bholath), Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal (Phagwara), Bawa Henry (Jalandhar North) and Pawan Adiya (Sham Chaurasi).
Though they claimed that former Punjab Congress unit chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee was also part of the dissenting group, the latter said he had not signed the letter. An MLA, who didn’t wish to be named, said the group also met Sidhu over the issue in Patiala on Sunday afternoon.
In 2018, Rana Gurjit, who then held power and irrigation portfolios in the Amarinder Singh cabinet, was dropped as minister amid a controversy over sand mining auction. In the letter, the MLAs said he was dropped due to a mining scandal involving him, his family and his companies.
“The Punjab government had forfeited ₹25 crore deposited by his front company Rajbir Enterprises for the auction of 3 sand-mining sites in Punjab. The Justice Narang commission brought out a startling fact that Rajbir Enterprises had received ₹5 crore gratification for the said mining auction from Gurinder Singh, who was charged by the vigilance bureau in an alleged irrigation scam,” the letter read.
“It is amusing that the three ministers proposed to be included in the cabinet from Doaba were Jat Sikhs and an OBC (Other Backward Caste) Sikh, whereas there is approximately 38% Dalit population in the belt. We all request you to immediately drop Rana Gurjit’s name and instead include a clean Dalit face in view of the upcoming elections,” the letter concluded.
