Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab is in the middle of another round of political controversy after an audio clip of AAP cabinet minister Fauja Singh Sarari has gone viral in which he was allegedly heard discussing a plan with his close aide to extort money from contractors involved in transporting government foodgrain and rice with the help of officials.
Earlier Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann sacked health minister Dr Vijay Singla over corruption charges.
While the official statement of the state government or party spokesperson is awaited, the minister, who holds the charge of Food Processing and Horticulture departments, has reached out to sections of the media and questioned the authenticity of the audio, terming it a conspiracy against him.
While Sarari, an MLA from Guru Har Sahai in Ferozepur district, is learnt to have filed a police complaint in his home constituency, demanding necessary action against the conspirator, the opposition has mounted pressure on the government, calling for the AAP government to sack him and order an independent probe.
Reacting to the clip, Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who also shared the audio clip of the conversation of the minister with his close aide, tweeted, "It's now a test of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on the issue of corruption in high places. He arrested Dr Singla on charges that were never made public but in the case of Minister Sarari, his audio on corruption is in the public domain. If he retains Sarari, it would mean action against Singla was bogus."
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia demanded a CBI inquiry into the AAP minister Fauja Singh Sarari’s extortion tape, in his press conference.
Majithia said the minister was caught discussing a plan to trap some officials and extort money from them.
“The aide has stated on record that the audio tape is genuine and now it is up to the government to hand over the tape as well as the entire set of allegations against Sarari to the CBI so that they can be probed thoroughly,” Majithia claimed.
The SAD leader said, “The chief minister as well as AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal should not maintain double standards on corruption.”
He demanded the immediate sacking of Sarari and the registration of a criminal case against him.
Asserting that the AAP government had even taken a u-turn in Vijay Singla’s case, Majithia said the former minister who had been disowned earlier, was now a regular in all party meetings.
“Moreover the video on the basis of which he was sacked is yet to be presented in court. He has also not been charge-sheeted in the case”.
Majithia highlighted how Sarari was also involved in illegal mining and this revelation was also in the public domain but the AAP government was not taking any action against him.
Majithia said the government was still shielding those who had publicised the withdrawal of security of famous singer Sidhu Moosewala.
He said no action was being taken in this regard despite a repeated demand from even the late singer’s mother. “These persons include Media Director Baltej Pannu and Coordinator Ayushi”.
Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition Partap Singh Bajwa asked Bhagwant Mann to sack Fauja Singh Sarari from his cabinet and order an independent probe into the leaked audio clip in which the cabinet minister is heard allegedly fixing a money deal. “This case is no different from Dr Vijay Singla. Let's see if CM leads by example this time too,” he tweeted.
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