Uproar as Bajwa says Power Minister asked officials to collect party fund for Delhi polls

The heated exchange between Bajwa and the minister, prompted Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan to intervene and ask them to sit down.

Partap singh bajwa, punjab, indian express

Partap Singh Bajwa said the official complained to the Vigilance Bureau who in turn laid a trap and arrested the person who had made the demands from the official. (Source: FB)

Written by: Man Aman Singh Chhina

5 min readChandigarhFeb 26, 2025 10:38 AM IST First published on: Feb 26, 2025 at 10:38 AM IST

An uproar erupted in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Tuesday after Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa alleged that Power Minister Harbhajan Singh had asked senior officials in the power corporation across Punjab to collect funds for the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the recently concluded Delhi Assembly polls. He demanded that a House Committee or a Judicial Commission should investigate the entire affair.

Harbhajan Singh hit back at Bajwa for levelling “baseless allegations” against him and questioned the Leader of Opposition on allegations levelled against him for scams when he was the PWD Minister in Congress government.

The heated exchange between Bajwa and the minister, prompted Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan to intervene and ask them to sit down. Sandhwan even banged his gavel to restore order in the House.

Speaking during Zero Hour, on the concluding day of the two-day Vidhan Sabha session, Bajwa claimed that the PSEB Engineers Association had written to to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann alleging that a power official in Hoshiarpur had been tasked to collect cash for ‘party funds’ for AAP which was to be utilised in Delhi elections.

Bajwa said the official complained to the Vigilance Bureau who in turn laid a trap and arrested the person who had made the demands from the official. Bajwa alleged that it then came to the fore that money was demanded from circle offices of the PSPCL at the behest of the power minister.

He claimed that despite the letter written to the CM, nothing was done in the matter.

Bajwa then went on to speak about the corruption in revenue department by Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars and referred to a letter written by the previous Chief Director of Vigilance Bureau to the previous Chief Secretary of the state regarding the activities on these individuals.

“This letter mentioned the names of 48 revenue officials along with the names of their intermediaries saying that these are corrupt officials and an inquiry should be held against them. On the contrary these persons are posted at top positions in the state,” said Bajwa.

He further quoted a senior retired revenue official as saying that on an average Rs 1000 crore per month is collected as bribe in revenue offices across Punjab.

Immediately after Bajwa stopped speaking, an agitated Power Minister attacked the LoP and questioned him on the Gujarat ‘party’ allegations against him and the alleged scam which took place when he was PWD Minister in the Congress government and 28 officials of the department had been arrested for corruption in coal tar scam.

Pandemonium broke out in the House at this stage with MLAs from treasury benches and Congress MLAs standing and shouting at each other.

The Speaker appealed to the members to sit down and asked for an orderly discussion. “Let him speak. You have laid out all your aspersions on him,” the Speaker told Bajwa with regard to power Minister.

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema took on Bajwa and asked him to “shut his mouth and sit down”. Cheema asked why the association did not lodge a formal complaint in the matter. He pointed out that the vigilance bureau is already investigating it.

Continuing to attack the AAP government, Bajwa said the association had levelled grave charges and sought that a house committee or a judicial probe be ordered in it. Cabinet Minister Aman Arora said the power minister had informed him during the Delhi polls, that the vigilance bureau had lodged an FIR in connection with the demand of Rs 50,000 as party fund.

There was no mention of any person or any party, he said.

Vouching for the power minister, Arora said that he had even sought strict action against a person who took money from a rice sheller to get his work done. “He is my colleague and I am the party (Punjab) president. It is my responsibility to defend him,” said Arora.

Bajwa said if the power minister is not involved, then the state government will take action against those power utility officials who wrote the letter.

Aman further said that the government was open to any inquiry into the allegations but added that a former director of Enforcement Directorate has gone in record saying he had been prevented by Congress ministers in the previous government from conducting an inquiry into spurious liquor scam which claimed many lives in Amritsar. “This too should be inquired into,” he said.