A senior minister in the newly elected Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab, Dr. Vijay Singla, has been sacked from his post and subsequently arrested after concrete proofs of corruption against him emerged. Dr. Singla, who was the health minister in the Bhagwant Mann cabinet is an MLA from Mansa, and is a dentist by profession.
As health minister, Dr Singla was apparently taking 1% commission in all tenders floated by the health & family welfare department. Having been elected just over 2 months back, a senior minister already getting caught taking kickbacks in every tender has come as a serious blow to the Bhagwant Mann-led government.
In a video message announcing the development, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said, “I am taking strict action against the minister. I am removing him from the Cabinet. We have found substantial proof of his involvement in a corruption case. I do not care if the opposition parties want to use this to hit out at us, saying a minister was removed on corruption charges within two months. The point is that we will not tolerate anyone indulging in such malpractices. Our party’s national convenor has made it clear that corruption will not be tolerated. He had himself removed a minister in Delhi in 2015 after corruption charges were leveled against the minister.”
The AAP MLA was subsequently arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Punjab Police for taking a commission on all tenders. Notably, Dr. Singla got the highest number of votes during the recently concluded assembly elections in Punjab and was the first minister from Mansa in the state after over 3 decades.
Following his arrest, CM Bhagwant Mann tweeted that they will not tolerate any corruption from anyone, whether it is one of their own or someone else.
आम आदमी पार्टी का जन्म ईमानदार सिस्टम कायम करने के लिए हुआ है…@ArvindKejriwal जी ने हमेशा कहा है कि भ्रष्टाचार को बर्दाश्त नहीं करेंगे चाहे कोई अपना हो या बेगाना
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) May 24, 2022
स्वास्थ्य मंत्री के खिलाफ भ्रष्टाचार के सबूत मिलते ही तुरंत बर्खास्त किया…साथ ही FIR के आदेश दिए pic.twitter.com/0g9nqGteHb
Meanwhile, Delhi’s Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal got teary-eyed with pride after hearing this news. Arvind Kejriwal, who had visited several states after the Punjab elections claiming that corruption has ended in Punjab after 10 days of AAP government, couldn’t stop his tears after hearing about the action taken by Bhagwant Mann about corrupt minister and leader of his own party.
Proud of you Bhagwant. Ur action has brought tears to my eyes.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 24, 2022
Whole nation today feels proud of AAP https://t.co/glg6LxXqgs
The Delhi CM also said that the whole nation will be proud of AAP after the sacking and arrest of a corrupt AAP minister.
