Khaira seeks Power Minister's dismissal; Rana trashes charges

Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira today sought immediate dismissal of Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh over alleged links with the main accused in a multi-crore irrigation scam.
In a statement released today, Khaira said Chief Minister Amarinder Singh must dismiss Rana Gurjit from his cabinet and order a CBI inquiry to further probe the black money angle in the auction.
According to the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, engineers from the Irrigation Department and other officials misused their powers, connived with Gurinder Singh and allocated works worth Rs 1,000 crore to the contractor at a rate which was up to 50 per cent more than departmental rates and thereby caused a huge loss to the government over the last seven-eight years.

It had come to light that the Rs 1,000 crore irrigation scamster Gurinder Singh transferred Rs 5 crore to an account belonging to a chartered accountant associated with Rana Gurjit on May 23, 2017, Khaira said in the statement.
Khaira dared Amarinder to deny the partnership between scamster Gurinder Singh and Rana Gurjit Singh, and demanded that he immediately dismiss the minister from his cabinet and order a CBI inquiry to find out how many more scamsters have business connections with the tainted minister.
He said he would move the Punjab and Haryana High Court for a CBI probe and the registration of a criminal case against Rana Gurjit.

Meanwhile, the Power Minister said a crude and malicious attempt was being made to associate his name with the accused in the multi-crore irrigation scam.

"It defies all logic and rationale to relate me with someone who has been brought to the book by my initiative," he said, while pointing out that he was the first one to question the wrongdoings in the Irrigation Department.
Rana Gurjit said it was he who wrote to the chief minister and recommended a high-level vigilance probe after noticing various irregularities in the department that eventually led to the revelation of a massive scam.

He added that the chartered accountant was not on his pay roll and that he had just hired his services.
Deliberate attempts were being made to tarnish hisimage through slanderous propaganda, the Power Minister said.