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Oppn demands Punjab minister's sacking over mining contracts

The Opposition in Punjab on Saturday stepped up its attack seeking immediate sacking of Cabinet minister Rana Gurjit Singh for allegedly acquiring sand and gravel mines through "benaami transactions in the name of his former cook and staff," a charge vehemently denied by him. Raising questions over the allotment of mines in the recently-concluded auction, main opposition AAP also sought a vigilance probe into the allotment.

AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira said the party leaders would sit on 'dharna' outside the chief minister's residence on May 30 if no action was taken against the minister.
"It is the money of Rana Gurjit Singh who pumped it through his four former employees to get mining contracts in Punjab," Khaira alleged while claiming that there was a "big scam" in the allotment of the contracts.

Khaira also showed the copy of the purported income tax return of Amit Bahadur, one of the minister's former cooks, to the media here.

"As per income tax return for the financial year 2014-15 of the former cook, his income was about Rs 95,000. He was getting an income of just Rs 11,706 per month. With such a meagre income, will a cook be able to bag mining contract of Rs 26 crore," Khaira asked.

AAP MLA from Bholath said he has written to the Punjab Vigilance Bureau chief, demanding probe against the minister and his former employees. The MLA demanded from Punjab CM to remove Rana Gurjit from his ministry immediately.

Earlier, opposition SAD and BJP had also sought action against the Cabinet minister.

"Rana Gurjit Singh's cook and other employees getting mining contracts worth crores is a classic example of what the Congressmen are upto," Tarun Chugh, the national secretary of the BJP said.
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