Cook as mine owner: Parties seek Punjab minister’s dismissal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 25

Following the Tribune exposé about a cook of the Punjab Power minister bagging a multi-crore mining contract, political leaders across party lines on Thursday demanded sacking of Rana Gurjit from the council of ministers.

A report that appeared in these columns today had highlighted how contracts of at least four mining sites were bagged by employees of Rana Gurjit in the e-auction held on May 19 and 20.

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Leader of opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, HS Phoolka asked Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to take action against the ministers of his cabinet for “indulging in wrong practices and acquiring benami contracts” from the government.

Read: Punjab minister’s cook is Rs 26-cr sand mine owner

Questioning Captain Amarinder’s silence, Phoolka said earlier when leaders of Akali Dal were “looting” Punjab Captain used to train guns at them, but now when same is happening in his government, he is keeping his eyes closed. “Captain should explain what is stopping him from taking action against Rana Gurjit Singh,” he said.

Phoolka demanded that the CM must immediately remove Rana Gurjit from his Cabinet. “If Captain does not take any action against Rana, it indicates that he himself has indulged in wrong practices,” Phoolka said.

AAP MLA from Bholath Sukhpal Singh Khaira at a press conference at Jalandhar said if the CM fails to take any action, “we will hold a dharna in front of the residence of either Punjab CM or Rana Gurjit Singh to pressure the latter to quit”.

Khaira said the Punjab government should make public the source of income of Rana Gurjit Singh’s cook Amit Bahadur.

He added that AAP will also file a complaint with Chief Director, Enforcement Directorate, and urge them to keep tabs on the mafia that has been looting natural resources of the state.

Khaira also called upon the Punjab and Haryana High Court to take a suo-motu cognizance of the issue.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, too, demanded the immediate sacking of Rana Gurjit for acquiring sand and gravel mines through “benami transactions in the name of his cook and office staff”.

In a statement here, Akali MP Prem Singh Chandumajra said the action should be taken against the minister under relevant sections of the Income Tax Act. "The case should also be handed over to the Enforcement Directorate for investigation," he said.

Stating that SAD would also raise the issue in Parliament, the MP said the Punjab government was also answerable as to why it was letting cooks and employees of Rana Gurjit, who were paid a couple of thousand as salary, to participate and win auctions by submitting bids of Rs 50 crore. “This amounts to encouraging benami bids through hawala transactions which are even a threat to national security,” the MP added.

The BJP alleged a ‘scam’ in the e-bidding of mining for sand and gravel at various places in Punjab. Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a press conference in Ludhiana, party’s former state president Manoranjan Kalia dared the Chief Minister either to make his position clear or order a CBI probe into the entire process of e-bidding of sand mining and the role of his Cabinet colleague in the massive irregularities if his own hands are clean.

They are my former employees: Rana Gurjit

In response to The Tribune report, Rana Gurjit Singh on Thursday clarified that neither he nor his company Rana Sugars Limited, has any direct or indirect stakes, financial or otherwise, in the sand mining business. 

The minister categorically denied any links of his family members or employees with the sand mining business. He said the employees in question had left their jobs a long time ago, which can be verified from the company's records.

He said he was personally not involved in the day-to-day functioning of his companies for the last about two decades. Rana Gurjit said he could say “with command and confidence that neither any of the employees working in these companies nor any of my family members has any interest or stake in sand mining business in Punjab”.