Punjab CM Mann slams Manjinder Sirsa, Sukhpal Khaira for ‘baseless’ allegations against Minister

CHANDIGARH : Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday slammed BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira for making “baseless” allegations against one of his ministers. Mann said the allegations showed that they were feeling jittery ahead of the Lok Sabha bypoll in Jalandhar, scheduled for May 10. Sirsa on Monday alleged in a tweet that one of Mann's ministers tendered his resignation after his “obscene video” was submitted to the Punjab governor. Replying to a question on Sirsa's allegations, Mann took a swipe at the BJP leader and dubbed his claims as “baseless”. Mann added that he did not receive any resignation or video.
The chief minister was addressing the media after he reached office in the morning. The new timing in Punjab government offices came into effect on Tuesday with shifts changing from the earlier 9 am-5 pm regime to 7.30 am-2 pm. The new timing will remain in force till July 15. Without naming anyone, Congress MLA Khaira on Monday said he had handed over “highly objectionable video clips of gross misconduct” of an AAP minister to the governor. He also demanded the minister's dismissal from the Cabinet if the video is found to be genuine. Mann was also asked to comment on Khaira's accusation that Lal Chand Kataruchak had “misused” his position as minister to appoint his son as his telephone attendant and his nephew (sister-in-law's son) as his special assistant. Mann rejected the allegation and said, “It shows they are feeling jittery. They are not getting any issues. They are jittery about the Jalandhar (bypoll).”
“Therefore, they say that he (Kataruchak) has appointed his nephew, son of his sister-in-law,” said Mann. Mann also asked Khaira why his Punjab Democratic Alliance fielded Kataruchak from Gurdsapur in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections if he (Kataruchak) was involved in any impropriety.
Kataruchak has also rejected Khaira's allegations. The bypoll to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat was necessitated by the death of Congress MP Santokh Chaudhary.