Punjab ministers spar over raid

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31 

The Punjab Cabinet that met on Thursday reportedly saw senior Cabinet Minister Brahm Mohindra and Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu spar over the surprise check on the official residence of Patiala Mayor by the Local Bodies Department’s Chief Vigilance Officer on Wednesday. 

The Health Minister and other senior ministers expressed their displeasure over the move against the party’s own Mayor, Sanjiv Bittu Sharma, who is said to be close to former Union Minister Preneet Kaur. 

Sidhu said there were media reports (“Patiala MC floats tenders for works already done” dated May 30 in The Tribune) that tenders were floated for the renovation work that had already been done. Not convinced, his Cabinet colleagues called it a self-goal by the minister. 

As the meeting drew to a close, a sulking Sidhu alleged that a party leader in Amritsar was bad-mouthing him and that he was in close touch with the Chief Minister’s OSD. 

Brahm Mohindra, Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa, Rural Development Minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa and Irrigation Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria criticised Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi for raking up the issue of Dalits being “ignored” for government jobs, ahead of the Shahkot byelections. Demanding that Channi, who is in England, be asked to explain his conduct, they said he had embarrassed both the party and the government. The CM reportedly told his colleagues that he had already spoken to Advocate General Atul Nanda on the issue and had called up Channi too. 

Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa told the CM while the practice of assigning VIP routes to ministers had been discontinued, it was being followed in the case of ex-Akali minister Bikramjit S Majithia, who has Z Plus security.