Chandigarh, Jan 7 (IANS): The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday slammed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for procuring the resignation of Fauja Singh Sarari after being in cahoots with him for months ever since the release of the audio tape depicting the minister indulging in extortion.
Terming the resignation as too little too late, the SAD demanded an impartial enquiry into the entire matter after registration of a criminal case against the former minister and effecting his arrest.
Asking the Chief Minister to tell the people of Punjabi why he had encouraged the corrupt deeds of Sarari for months and even indulged in a cover-up operation, senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said: "It seems they have fallen apart or the Chief Minister has finally felt the pressure of Punjabis who are reeling under the corrupt deeds of AAP ministers."
Majithia said the entire responsibility of choosing a corrupt person as a candidate, later making him a minister and failing to take action against him when the audio tape of extortions being made by Sarari was made public fell on the Chief Minister.
"Bhagwant Mann should tell Punjabis what were the extraneous reasons for shielding Sarari for all these months," he said in a statement.
Stating the Punjabis did not believe that the AAP government could do justice in the case, Majithia said an independent probe by a sitting judge of the High Court could go into the evidence against Sarari to ascertain the truth about the extent of extortion done by the former minister.
He said this was important because earlier also everyone had seen how then cabinet minister Vijay Singla, who had been dismissed from the ministry, had been rehabilitated in AAP by its convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Majithia asked the Chief Minister to explain why his government had gone completely silent on the audio tape in which Singla demanded one per cent commission for clearing tenders.
He said the government should release the audio tape and also tell what action had been initiated against Singla on its basis.