‘tainted’ former minister and Kapurthala included MLA Rana Gurjit Singh A new round of discontent may begin among a section of Congressmen in Punjab as some senior MLAs opposed his promotion. The opposition has got a chance to open fire on the Charanjit Singh Channi government even before Gurjit Singh joins. Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, an interesting turn of events had emerged when reports surfaced that Singh’s name was dropped from the list of potential ministers following objections by a section of legislators.
A letter written by former state Congress chief Mohinder Singh Kapi and other legislators including Sukhpal Singh Khaira said they would oppose the proposed inclusion of Gurjit Singh tooth and nail as he was already removed from the cabinet in January 2018. was given. A mining scam involving him and his family. Despite this, Gurjit Singh managed to get his name included.
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Sources say that his closeness with the high command helped him secure the deal. The induction of Gurjit Singh, a politician from the Doaba region, was also important for the Congress high command to maintain territorial balance as both Chief Minister and state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu belong to Malwa, while the two deputy CMs are from Majha region. , leaving the Doaba region under-represented.
Singh, a three-time MLA, defeated the son of former PM IK Gujral.
Gurjit Singh, 65, is a three-time MLA from Kapurthala and a businessman from the part of UP that now falls in Uttarakhand. The Congress veteran had moved to Punjab in 1989. Liquor and sugar trader, he also owns a paper mill in Ropar. He was the richest candidate in the 2017 Punjab elections with a net worth of Rs 170 crore.
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He became MLA from Kapurthala in 2002. In 2004, he became MP from Jalandhar defeating Naresh Gujral, son of former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral. This is a return to the cabinet for him as he served as the Minister of Power and Irrigation in 2017 under the Amarinder Singh government. However, he became embroiled in an alleged sand mine allocation scam, forcing him to resign in January 2018.
Government sources, however, claimed that the investigation conducted by the then CM Captain Amarinder had found no concrete evidence against him and hence, there was no reason to keep the Doaba politician out of the cabinet.
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