Gurminder Singh made to quit as state AG after he refused to be Kejriwal loyalist: LoP

Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Sunday alleged that Gurminder Singh was forced to quit as the Punjab Advocate General (AG) as he was “reluctant” to be a loyalist of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

“The AAP government’s malicious intentions behind the resignation of Gurminder Singh cannot be ruled out. The AAP government intended to bring in around 50 law officers from Delhi, who are loyal to AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal. Gurminder Singh was reluctant to do the same, so he was forced to quit,” Bajwa said. The state government has appointed Advocate Maninderjit Singh Bedi as the new Advocate General.

Bajwa said the Kejriwal loyalists are being shifted to Punjab as Kejriwal’s legal team became jobless following the party’s defeat in the Delhi Assembly poll.

“Therefore, AAP has been attempting to bring them to Punjab. These law officers will draw their salaries from the Punjab exchequer. However, they will represent AAP’s senior leadership, including Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Satyendar Jain lawsuits in several courts,” he alleged. The Congress leader also accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of “surrendering his conscience” to the AAP leadership to protect his Chief Ministership as Gurminder Singh was the fourth person to quit as the AG in Punjab in three years of the AAP government.