Punjab minister resigns after corruption charge, successor Patiala MLA Balbir Singh takes oath

CHANDIGARH: Punjab’s horticulture, food processing and defence services welfare minister, Fauja Singh Sarari, resigned from the state cabinet on Saturday, months after an audio clip surfaced in which he was allegedly heard “fixing a deal to extort money”. Sarari, however, alleged that the audio was “doctored” to frame him.

Sarari, who sent his resignation to chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann in the early hours of Saturday, was later replaced with Patiala Rural MLA Balbir Singh (66) in the second expansion of the state cabinet within nine months. Earlier, health minister Vijay Singla was sacked on corruption charges.

AAP’s Punjab unit spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said Sarari has resigned from the cabinet, citing “personal reasons”.

Balbir Singh, an ophthalmologist, was administered the oath of office by governor Banwarilal Purohit at the Raj Bhawan on Saturday evening. He has been allotted health and family welfare, medical education and research and elections portfolios.

“Chief minister Mann and the party have given me a big responsibility. I will do my best to live up to their expectations,” he said, listing mohalla clinics, steps to tackle drug addiction and reforms in medical education as his top priorities.

Singh, the third medical professional in the state cabinet, has replaced Chetan Singh Jauramaja as the health and medical education minister. Jauramajra has been allocated the departments held by Sarari.

Sarari, inducted into the cabinet along with four others in the first expansion on July 4, had been in the eye of the storm since an audio clip of an alleged conversation between him and his former close aide, discussing ways to “trap” some contractors involved in food grain transportation through some officials to “extort money” from them, went viral in September last year.

The minister has repeatedly denied the allegations, alleging that the audio was “doctored” to frame him.

Meanwhile, the Punjab unit of the Congress demanded immediate arrest of Sarari and a probe by a central agency or a sitting judge. “Persistent pressure and efforts of the Congress forced the ruling party to bow down and made Sarari quit,” leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said in a statement.

He also attacked chief minister Mann, saying that he “owed an explanation to the state about what made him shield Sarari for so long”.

Fauja Singh Sarari