Punjab CM sacked minister
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann sacked his health minister Dr Vijay singla on corruption charges.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Tuesday sacked health minister Dr. Vijay Singla from his Cabinet on charges of corruption for seeking “1 per cent cut in tenders allotment and purchase of goods related to the department.” CM also forwarded this compliant to police for registration of corruption case against the minister.
In the video message, Mann had said that Dr Singla had confessed to the crime to Mann himself. Mann also said that he wanted to convey the message of zero tolerance for corruption through this sacking.
Mann further added that “recently, the corruption case against the minister came to my notice. The media, opposition parties did not know about it… I could have brushed it under the carpet. If I would have done that, I would have betrayed lakhs of Punjabi’s who had trusted us. So I am taking strict action against the minister and sacking him from the cabinet.”
Singla is a first-time MLA who defeated Congress candidate and singer Sidhu Moosewala from the Mansa seat by 63,323 votes in the recently concluded Assembly polls.
Reacting to the ouster of the Punjab Health Minister on Twitter, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha tweeted, “Aam Aadmi Party is the only party that has the integrity, courage and uprightness to take action against their own on grounds of corruption. We saw it in Delhi, now we are witnessing it in Punjab. Zero tolerance for corruption. Commendable decision by CM Bhagwant Mann”.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that an AAP Minister has been sacked in this fashion within months of the formation of the government. Earlier, the Arvind Kejriwal led AAP govt in New Delhi had sacked his food and supplies minister on corruption charges.
May 24,2022
