Rumblings grow within Captain’s cabinet, Cong: ‘Rana needs to go’

Ministers, MLAs claim party losing perception battle as govt mulls delaying budget session to midJune expecting the storm to blow over

CHANDIGARH: With one of its ministers in eye of a raging “sandstorm”, the two-month-old Captain Amarinder Singh government seems to be fighting its first credibility crisis a bit too early.

As allegations of “benami” sand mining deals against power and irrigation minister Rana Gurjit Singh gather storm, rumblings within the cabinet and the party are also growing louder — that the minister should step down till his name is cleared by the judicial commission set up by the CM. Requesting anonymity, a cabinet minister said the Congress came to power on a promise of clean governance and it cannot forsake it in two months. “One man should not be allowed to take the whole party down,” he said.

Another cabinet minister said: “Rana will have to go. It’s just a matter of time. The government cannot be seen as giving him a clean chit.” However, senior cabinet minister Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, said the CM has ordered a judicial probe and they should wait for the outcome.

But the government’s worry is not so much of losing face as the prospect of the issue derailing its preparedness for the budget session. Its much-hyped ammo of white paper on “financial mismanagement” during the 10-year rule of the Akaki-BJP government may go unnoticed, if not unused, if the Opposition AAP and the SAD-BJP stall the session demanding Rana’s ouster, resulting in a washout.

On the back foot, the government is also mulling to delay the session to mid-June expecting the storm to blow over.

The MLAs, who have been meeting the CM in the last few days in batches with problems in their constituencies, have left it to state party chief Sunil Jakhar to convey their feelings to the CM that the issue should “not be allowed to linger on”.

“The minister should quit till his name is cleared. It is a huge embarrassment for us and our government as just nine ministers have been sworn in and one of them is already facing charges of benami stakes in sand mines. People have no faith in the judicial commissions set up by the government. The intent should show on part of the CM or the minister should resign on his own calling,” a MLA said, wishing not to be named.

But some wannabe ministers are not so forthcoming. “It is too early to say anything. The government made sand mining a fair game by going for e-auction. Rana is an established industrialist and does not need to go for benami deals,” All India Youth Congress chief and Gidderbaha MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said.

Though Rana has said Amit Bahadur and Kulvinder Paul, who have bagged mining contracts, are his former employees and his friend Capt JS Randhawa has claimed they are working partners of his son Sanjit Randhawa’s firms, what may queer the pitch for Rana is the three other firms in which Bahadur is a director bear the same email id or address as his company, Rana Sugars. Even if the money trail for mining bids may lead to bank accounts of Randhawa’s firms, the minister’s poll affidavit shows he owes Bahadur’s firms loans running into crores of rupees.

JUSTICE NARANG MAY HAVE TO RECUSE

Though the Amarinder government seems to be in no mood to give into allegations of Opposition that justice JS Narang (retd) has links with Rana, sources in government said he would have to recuse himself if indeed a client-counsel relationship is proved. “A judicial commission is formed under the Commission of Inquiry Act and the name of the judge is approved by the Chief Justice of India. Yet if a client-lawyer relation is proved, he will have to recuse himself,” a senior government official said. AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira has alleged that Narang’s son, Amitjeet Narang, has worked as counsel of minister’s nephew, Rana Prabhdeep Singh.

The minister should quit till his name is cleared. It is a huge embarrassment for us and our government. CONGRESS MLA