AAP Punjab MLA arrested by his own party’s govt in corruption case: Who is Raman Arora?

Well known in the city as a devotional singer who performed “Mata ka Jagrans” and kirtans, Arora is said to have caught AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s attention during the latter’s visit to Devi Talab Mandir in Jalandhar in December 2021. The AAP fielded him from Jalandhar Central in the Assembly elections the following year, and he narrowly edged out Congress’s sitting MLA Rajinder Beri by 247 votes.

As an MLA, Arora promised accessibility to his constituents, meeting them almost daily and addressing civic issues such as problems with the sewage system. But his journey took a sharp turn of late, with people starting to question his functioning.

There were allegations that municipal corporation officials charged money for every work done at the MLA’s behest. The Vigilance Bureau on May 15 arrested an assistant town planner while allegedly accepting a Rs 30,000 bribe. Sources said Arora’s name came up during questioning and this led to the raid on Friday.

AAP insiders said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had received complaints against Arora, and a week ago, the government withdrew his heavy security cover. Arora’s growing proximity to a few BJP leaders had also become a cause of concern within the AAP. Party insiders also pointed to the increased activity by Deepak Bali, a senior leader with strong ties to the AAP’s national leadership, of late, in Jalandhar Central. They said this was a sign of the MLA having fallen out of favour with the party brass.

The MLA’s tendency to get into the middle of controversies also did not endear him to the AAP leadership. A few months after the party came to power in Punjab in 2022, he claimed he had received offers from the BJP to change sides for Rs 25 crore. The same year, he had a confrontation with Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Naresh Dogra. In a widely circulated video, Arora was seen using objectionable language and his supporters were also accused of roughing up the DCP.

The situation escalated when the injured parties were taken to a local hospital, where Arora’s supporters allegedly pressured a woman doctor to falsify medical reports in their favour. When the doctor refused, they vandalised the hospital. Though there was widespread public outrage, no criminal case was registered, and the police were allegedly pressured into brokering a compromise between the DCP and Arora.

Following Arora’s arrest, CM Mann took to social media to address the matter, saying the corrupt would not be spared, whether they were from his party or not. “’This is not a battle against an individual but against the corrupt system,” Mann said. “We will cleanse our system because ours is a zero-tolerance policy against corruption … I assure all businessmen and traders not to fear. If anyone is threatening or extorting money from them, they should file a complaint with us. When you compel someone to pay money, you don’t know their situation or where they arranged such a bribe. I want to make it clear that no one will be spared.”