The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has taken a tough stand against corruption during its three and a half year tenure. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the government not only took action against the leaders of opposition parties, but one minister of his own party and three
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Now read about 4 corrupt MLAs in a series
1- First of all, behind bars brought to Health Minister In 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party took over the reins of Punjab for the first time. The issue of corruption in this election was quite quite echoed. This was the reason that the government had to put its then health minister Dr. Vijay Singla behind bars. Arrested for corruption. CM Mann himself had said that Singla was asking for 1% commission in the health department in lieu of every work and tender.
Singla was granted bail on 8 July 2022. He then remained active in the constituency and joined the government’s programs. Even Dr. Vijay Singla was appointed as a member of the committees constituted four days ago by the Assembly.
2- MLAs were caught demanding stake in grant After this, Vigilance arrested AAP MLA Amit Ratan Kotfatta from Bathinda Rural Assembly seat in Punjab on charges of corruption. He was accused that through his PA Resham Singh, he had sought a bribe of Rs 4 lakh from Seema Rani, the sarpanch of village Ghuda, so that a government grant of ₹ 25 lakh could be issued.
He got regular bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court on 22 May 2023, but the corruption case against him is still pending in the court.
Amit Ratan Kotfatta arrived in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for hearing after his arrest.
3- ED, claiming to take one rupee salary, caught In the 2022 Punjab assembly elections, Prof. Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra won from Amargarh seat. During the election campaign, he had said to take only one rupee salary. But the Central Agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him on 6 November 2023 in a bank fraud case of Rs 41 crore. The case is related to Tara Corporation Limited.
After the arrest, he was kept in Patiala Central Jail. His bail plea was earlier rejected in Mohali’s court, after which he moved to the High Court. He had to stay in jail for about 6 months. The Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him regular bail in May 2024.
4- Corruption game was going on in the name of false notices Jalandhar Central MLA Raman Arora has been arrested by Vigilance on 23 February 2025. It is alleged that Raman Arora used to send false notices to innocent people through Jalandhar Municipal Corporation officials. Then he used to take money and get those notices raised. In the name of illegal construction, people were intimidated and then used to collect money to press the files. The investigation revealed the entire ‘recovery network’ used to recover at the behest of the MLA, files were ‘settlements’. Several objectionable documents have been recovered in Vigilance investigation.
Photo of Raman Arora in the Vigilance Team, Inset taking MLA Raman Arora from home.
Now read about those leaders who have lost the cabinet …
1- Fauja Singh Sarari Fauja Singh Sarari is the MLA of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Guru Har Sahai constituency. On 5 July 2022, he was included as a cabinet minister in the Punjab government. He was given the charge of Food Processing, Horticulture, Defense Services Welfare and Freedom Fighter Departments. But in September the same year an audio clip appeared, in which the plan to recover money from contractors was being discussed between Fauja Singh Sarari and one of his colleagues.
Opposition parties demanded his resignation after this clip went viral. Although Sarari dismissed these allegations, calling the audio fake, the party issued a show cause notice to him. Finally, Fauja Singh himself resigned from the post of minister citing personal reasons.
2- Balkar Singh AAP MLA Balkar Singh represents Kartarpur assembly constituency. He was appointed a cabinet minister in the Punjab government on 31 May 2023. He was assigned the responsibility of the local body department. But in June 2024, an objectionable video of Balkar Singh went viral on social media, accusing him of unfair behavior. After the incident, opposition parties demanded his resignation. The then Governor of that time Banwari Lal Purohit had reached a complaint in the matter. After which he was discharged from the cabinet.
Surrounded in controversies but did not miss the post … Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lalchand Kataruchak in the Punjab government was accused of sexual exploitation in May 2023. However, his post did not go. Actually, an alleged objectionable video was also revealed in this case. When the matter increased, the then Governor Banwarilal Purohit asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to take action.
Subsequently, the National Scheduled Castes Commission (NCSC) issued three notices to the Punjab government and a special investigation team (SIT) was formed. However on 13 June 2023, the complainant withdrew his complaint to the SIT and claimed that the viral video was fake. After which Kataruchak was given a clean chit.
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AAP MLA arrested in corruption case in Punjab: Vigilance team took documents in 3 bags, CM said- whether your own or alien corruption is not tolerated
Raman Arora, MLA from Jalandhar Central of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, has been arrested by Vigilance. The team has taken them with them. The Vigilance team raided the house in Ashok Nagar, Arora at 8.45 am. When the Vigilance team arrived, MLA Arora was going somewhere. Read full news
