Pure for sure? From a CM’s son to state BJP chief’s wife

After procuring the list of allotments, The Indian Express contacted sources, visited the sites to verify them name by name, pump by pump, made several attempts to contact each beneficiary. Some of them, like Dhumal and his brother spoke to the newspaper, some declined to comment. Below is the first list from Punjab and Himachal:

PART II : PUNJAB, HIMACHAL PRADESH

1. Arvind Dhumal: Petrol pump in Kheran, Jalandhar. Arvind is P K Dhumal’s nephew. P K Dhumal says: ‘‘My elder brother’s family lives independently. The allotment in the name of his son Arvind Kumar has nothing to do with me.’’ Arvind’s father, Rup Singh Dhumal (the CM’s brother), said he was not aware of the allotment of the petrol pump to his son ‘‘as I am not required to keep everybody’s history’’.
2. Anurag Singh Thakur: Petrol pump in Mand, Jalandhar. Thakur is the son of Himachal Pradesh BJP Chief Minister P K Dhumal. Dhumal says: ‘‘The allotment of the pump to my son Anurag was challenged in the High Court and the case was decided in his favour. It is now before the Supreme Court. In any case he runs his business independently and the allotment has nothing to do with me.’’

3. Saraswati Devi: Pump at Rajpura, Ferozepur. Her husband is Punjab BJP President Brij Lal Rinwa. Rinwa’s daughter confirmed the petrol pump had started working but refused to comment further.
4. Gurpreet Singh: Pump in Har Raipur, Bathinda. His father is Sikandar Singh Maluka, power minister in previous SAD (Badal) government. Gurpreet says he was listed as second candidate selected by the Dealer Selection Board (Punjab I) and got it when the first choice withdrew.
5. Anil Thamman: Pump at Jamsher, Jalandhar. Thamman is the son-in-law of BJP MP from Ludhiana Lala Lajpat Rai. When contacted, Thamman denied any relationship with Rai
6. Tarlochan Singh Tur: Pump at Sheron, Amritsar. Tur is the SAD (Badal) Lok Sabha MP from Tarn Taran constituency, near Amritsar (the SAD and BJP were allies in the last government). Tur said the allotment had been done on ‘‘pure merit’’, at the time he had applied he had fulfilled all the conditions of being ‘‘unemployed and a graduate’’. The court has since intervened and he hasn’t been able to operate the pump.
7. Niranjan Singh: LPG agency at Kotkapura, Faridkot. He’s the son-in-law of former Akali MP Dhanna Singh Gulshan.
8. Harsharan Kaur: Pump at Gill village, Ludhiana. Her husband was then Ludhiana SAD mayor Opinder Singh Grewal. He said the allotment was on merit; his wife was an MA, B. Ed and had applied in the general category. ‘‘The entire sum of money invested into the pump – Rs 12 lakh – was in white money,’’ Grewal said.
9. Manoj Kumar: Pump at Dhandran, Ludhiana. His father, Banwari Lal Chouhan, is Ludhiana district president of the BJP’s SC Morcha
10. Angrej Kaur: Pump at Shahbajpur, Amritsar. Kaur’s son Tarlochan Singh admitted they were close to the family of ex-MP Surinder Kairon and that DSP Avtar Singh Sandhu had helped them. Kairon’s son, Adesh Pratap Singh, was a minister in the SAD-BJP Govt and is married to Parkash Singh Badal’s daughter.
11. Vinod Kumar Trehan: LPG agency in Ludhiana. Trehan’s father, Shavinder Kumar admits ‘‘good relations’’ with State BJP general secretary Anil Sareen, who is the family’s Income Tax lawyer.
12. Balwant Rain: Pump in Khanpur, Sangrur. He’s the general secretary of the BJP SC/BC Morcha.
13. Chander Kanta: Pump at Jand Sahib, Faridkot. Her late husband was Faridkot district BJP president.
14. Ruby Sekhri: LPG agency at Batala, Gurdaspur. Her husband, Vivek, is first cousin of Punjab Industries Minister Ashwani Sekhri (Congress). The allotment has been challenged in the courts. Vivek Sekhri denies that Ashwani Sekhri being a Minister has helped. ‘‘Its no big deal these days to get a LPG dealership’’. Ashwani says his cousin’s family had broken off from him long back. ‘‘Anyway they have not been able to run the agency because of litigation. ’’
15. Naginder Gupta: LPG agency in Patiala. His father is RSS district Sangh Chalak Parmeshwari Dass. The agency was inaugurated by then Food and Civil Supplies minister from the BJP, Madan Mohan Mittal.
16. Rani Gauba: Pump at Dhariwal, Gurdaspur. Her father, late Harbans Lal Kansra, was a BJP leader in the Gurdaspur-Batala belt and her uncle, Baldev Singh Kansra, is a BJP leader in Batala. Her son Bharat Gauba says they did not require any influence to get the pump.
17. Kartik Sareen: Pump at Kartarpur, Jalandhar. Sareen, who owns a cinema in Nawanshahr, is closely linked to Dealer Selection Board Chairman (Punjab II) Justice (retd) M.R. Agnihotri and former CM Parkash Singh Badal.
18. Savita Thakur: Pump at Paddi Sura Singh, Hoshiarpur. Thakur is a relative of former BJP Excise and Taxation minister Tikshan Sood.
19. Vijay Kumar: Petrol pump in Sector 44, Chandigarh. His father Rajinder Pal was driver for former IAS officer R R Bhardwaj, now Deputy Chairman of the Punjab State Planning Board and a senior PPCC functionary. Bhardwaj helped my father as a ‘‘reward for his services,’’ says Vijay.
20. Suman Lata: LPG agency at Goniana, Bhatinda. She’s a relative of Gobind Ram, a Congressman and president of the Goniana Mandi Municipal Council. Gobind Ram, who also runs a pump at Goniana, said the allotment to Suman Lata was a ‘‘fair one’’.
21. Rajesh Madan:LPG agency in Amritsar. He’s a BJP leader and businessman from Amritsar, his allotment is under challenge in High Court.
22. Tejinder Singh: Pump at Kahma, Nawanshahr. He got the pump on the recommendation of former SAD MLA Hardev Singh Kahma.
23. Kavita Rani: LPG agency at Abohar, Ferozepur. She’s the losing BSP candidate from the Balluana Assembly seat, her sister also runs an LPG agency in Malout.
24. Surinder Singh: LPG agency at Maur, Bathinda. Cousin of Independent MLA from Talwandi Sabo Jeet Mohinder Singh and nephew of former Punjab Public Service Commission chairman Bhupendra Singh Sidhu
25. Manu Sahnan: Pump at Bhenori, Ludhiana. Her sister is married to the son of former Punjab chief secretary N.K. Arora.
26. Sumit Chalia: Pump at Tarkheri, Patiala. His father is Punjab ADGP (Administration) R.S. Chalia. Chalia senior says: ‘‘My son is a topper in engineering. He was unemployed. Justice Agnihotri of the Oil Selection Board allotted the pump after my son appeared for his third interview. The pump is located in a rural area with very low earnings. There was no competition for the pump allocation and no one came for bidding except my son. My son nets Rs 10,000 per month from the pump after meeting expenses. So there’s no question of my having influenced the allotment.’’
27. Pawan Kumar Garg: Pump at Sarabha, Ludhiana. His brother is Punjab Civil Services (Executive) officer Bhushan Kumar Garg.
28. Reena Rani: Pump at Khasi Kalan, Ludhiana. Has links with petrol pump magnate K.C. Garg, who is facing a CBI probe for taking benaami pumps. Garg is known to be very close to Dealer Selection Board Chairman Punjab II Justice (retd) M.R. Agnihotri. The former chairman is also facing a CBI inquiry.
29. Pushpa Devi Bragta: LPG agency at Kotkhai, Shimla. Her husband is Horticulture Minister Narender Bragata. The minister says the allotment was purely on merit basis
HIMACHAL PRADESH
30. Vandana Pathania: Pump at Raja Ka Talab, Kangra. She’s the wife of Rakesh Pathania, BJP MLA from Nurpur and chairman, Himachal Tourism Development Corporation.
31. Anurag Kashyap: Pump in Shimla. His father H.N.Kashyap is former Shimla Municipal Commissioner
32. Mohinder Nath Sofat: Pump at Dharampur. He was a minister in the Shanta Kumar government.
33. Laxmi Devi Jariyal: LPG agency at Daulatpur Chowk. She’s a BJP Zila Parishad member in Una
34. Anita Shandil: LPG agency at Dada Sibba. She’s a BJP Zila Parishad member

With S L Chaudhary in Dharamsala, Ramaninder K Bhatia in Ludhiana and Yogendra Mohan in Patiala