Congress leaders seek Sanjeev Arora’s removal as Punjab minister

Congress leaders Pargat Singh and Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Monday sought the removal of Sanjeev Arora as the Punjab Industries Minister, saying his continuing as a managing director of a realty firm even after assuming ministerial charge was a case of “conflict of interest”.The leaders said Arora had resigned as the managing director of Hampton Sky Realty Limited only after a public interest litigation (PIL) citing conflict of interest was filed against him in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.Arora had assumed charge as the Industries Minister after he won the Ludhiana (West) bypoll in June, defeating Congress candidate Ashu.Terming the resignation “a face-saving exercise”, Ashu alleged that for over three years, Arora ran a real estate business directly benefiting from government decisions while he remained an AAP Rajya Sabha MP.“The PIL outlines serious allegations of conflict of interest, misuse of power and illegal land conversions, with detailed references to SEBI bans, ED raids and CBI inquiries. It also points out that Sanjeev Arora remained the managing director of Hampton Sky Realty Ltd even after becoming an (Rajya Sabha) MP and minister,” Ashu said in a statement.

Pargat Singh, who is also the Jalandhar Cantonment legislator, said Arora should be divested of the ministerial portfolio and the AAP government must clear its stand on the issue.

“The conflict of interest has emerged from the day he was appointed Industries Minister,” he said.

“While the Bhagwant Mann-led government is investigating conflict of interest allegations against former ministers, it remained silent on its own minister,” he added.