‘No mercy on those who eat people’s money’: Punjab CM Mann reacts after MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta’s arrest

The Punjab CM had in the past also repeatedly stated in public that his government would not spare anyone be it a minister, or his aide if found in a corruption case.

Backing Mann’s comments, AAP chief spokesperson in Punjab, Malwinder Singh Kang added that CM Mann has zero  tolerance to corruption, “CM @BhagwantMann is undoubtedly a Man on mission but not on commission unlike his predecessors, with zero tolerance on corruption. CM has given a free hand to Vigilance to curb the menace of the corruption,” he tweeted.

When asked if the party was feeling low over their own MLA getting involved in a corruption case he told The Indian Express that the party was proud to take a tough stand against corruption. “Why should we feel embarrassed? We don’t spare anyone.. whosoever he or she may be. Such actions send a larger message that corruption of any type will not be tolerated,” Kang said.

However, this is not the first case where an AAP legislator has been involved in a corruption case. Last May CM Mann sacked his cabinet colleague Dr Vijay Singla from the post of health and family welfare minister on charges of corruption.

The CM himself had announced via social media that Singla was seeking 1 per cent commission on the tenders being allotted for various works of department and the proof of the same was obtained following an audio conversation of the minister which never came out in public and it was with the CM only. Singla was arrested and later got bail from the High Court in July first week. Singla continues to be an MLA in his constituency and attends party meetings.

In September, an audio conversation between Cabinet minister Fauja Singh Sarari and his PA Tarsem Lal Kapoor went viral in which he was allegedly heard making plans to extort food grain transporters. Sarari, however, had stated that it wasn’t his voice . After remaining low profile for a few months, Sarari stepped down as minister on his own in January saying that he had done it due to personal reasons. A day after the audio of 1 minute 40 seconds had gone viral in September, 2022, Sarari stated that everything can be edited and presented in a wrong way. The controversial audio too had been edited.

Amit Rattan thus becomes the third MLA to be caught in controversy of corruption within one year of the AAP government.

Reacting to the arrest, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the corrupt MLA should have been arrested immediately after the Vigilance Bureau (VB) sleuths caught him accepting bribe last week. “SAD wants all of them to be disqualified from Vidhan Sabha,” Badal said.

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that though it was good that the government woke up to arrest Amit Rattan, why couldn’t it act on the same day his close aide was arrested. “There was widespread criticism from masses of Punjab who were demanding action against the MLA. Moreover, the Budget session is drawing near in which they had expected the Opposition’s protests. Fearing that, they were left with no choice but to arrest Kotfatta. As videos , audios related to this corruption case had come, the AAP couldn’t make any excuse to save Kotfatta,” he said. Warring said that the arrest happened due to intense pressure of the Opposition and the people of Punjab.

“Now I want to ask what action they are going to take against Sarari who has been left scot free even though there is enough proof against him?” he asked.

The BJP took a dig at the AAP saying that the Mann government is getting popular in the state due to corruption. “First cabinet minister Vijay Singla, then cabinet minister Fauja Singh Sarari and now MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta…all such incidents show that so called Kattar Imaandar party is Kattar Beiamaan. Their wickets are falling one by one. They tried hard to save Amit Rattan but the audios and videos which went viral proved that bribe was taken by the MLA through his PA. The AAP has been unmasked before masses and their real face of corruption has become visible before the people,” said BJP state spokesperson Anil Sarin.