AAP's Punjab unit spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said Sarari has resigned from the cabinet, citing "personal reasons".
On Saturday, months after becoming the subject of controversy over an audio clip in which he allegedly talked how to "trap" some contractors in order to "extort" money, Punjab Minister Fauja Singh Sarari stepped down from the Cabinet. According to a senior member of the government's Aam Admi Party, Sarari has decided to resign from the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's cabinet (AAP).
Malvinder Singh Kang, a representative for the AAP in Punjab, announced Sarari's resignation from the cabinet, referencing "personal reasons." Sarari, who oversaw horticulture and food processing, was reportedly set to be replaced by Patiala Rural MLA Dr. Balbir Singh.
In September, there was a claimed audio clip of a conversation between Sarari and his former close aide in which they allegedly discussed how to "trap" some contractors engaged in the transportation of food grains through some officials in order to "extort money" from them.
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Sarari, a 61-year-old retired police officer, was chosen to represent Guru Har Sahai in Ferozepur in the Punjab Assembly. Vardev Singh, a SAD candidate, had been defeated by him by 10,574 votes.
Health Minister Vijay Singla was removed from the state cabinet earlier in May, just two months after the AAP swept to power in Punjab, winning 92 of the state's 117 assembly seats, on suspicion of corruption. Sarai's dismissal and arrest had been demanded by opposition parties in the state. However, he had denied the accusations made against him.
Following the release of the audio clip about four months ago, Congress and the BJP asked why the AAP government had not penalised him. The opposition had charged the AAP government of using a double standard when it came to the issue of corruption after the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested former Punjab minister Sunder Sham Arora last year for supposedly offering a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to one of its officers to help him settle cases against him. They also questioned why Sarari was not also detained in the audio clip case.
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Arora was a minister in the Congress government and had joined the BJP in June last year. In July 2022, the Bhagwant Mann government had carried out its first cabinet expansion inducting five party legislators, including Sarari. After that, the strength of the state cabinet had reached 15, including the chief minister. There are 18 berths in the cabinet, including the chief minister.
(With inputs from PTI)
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 "Punjab Minister Fauja Singh Sarari resigns, Aam Admi Party, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab, APP")
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