Proud of you Bhagwant, your action has brought tears to my eyes, says Delhi CM Kejriwal 

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday sacked Health and Family Welfare Minister Vijay Singla over graft charges. Soon after his dismissal from the Cabinet, Singla was arrested. 
Mann said his Health and Family Welfare Minister was seeking “one per cent commission” in all departmental projects. On the other hand, Singla alleged a “conspiracy” to defame the Mann Government and the AAP.
Singla’s arrest was ordered by Mann after he called the Minister to his residence before playing an audio recording of his alleged demand for “shukrana” in his nephew’s name. Punjab Police’s Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested Singla, who was later produced before the Mohali court which remanded him in three-day police custody till May 27.
Late in the evening, Singla’s OSD Pardeep Kumar, who was named in the FIR filed by superintending engineer Rajinder Singh working on deputation in Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC), too was arrested in the matter. 

A case, under Sections 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, has been registered against Singla, and his OSD in Mohali’s Phase VII police station.
AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday praised Mann for sacking Singla. “Proud of you Bhagwant. Your action has brought tears to my eyes. Whole nation today feels proud of AAP,” said Kejriwal.
Announcing the decision through a video message, the Punjab CM said he had received complaints about “one of my ministers”.
“A case was brought to my notice that a Minister in my Cabinet was seeking one per cent commission for each tender and purchase-related to his department. Only I knew about this case, neither the media nor the Opposition had an idea about it. Had I wanted I would have covered it up. And had I done so, I would have not only failed my conscience but also the lakhs of people who trusted me. I am taking strong action against him. I am sacking him from my Cabinet and directing the police to take action against him. He has confessed to this crime,” said Mann.
Sources informed The Pioneer that a Government officer had approached the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to complain against Dr Singla over a week back. As the Chief Minister took serious note of the allegations, a sting operation was launched, and incriminating evidences were created.
Mann added, “AAP has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. This (removing a sitting Cabinet Minister) is happening for the second time in the country. In 2015, Arvind Kejriwal had sacked one of his Ministers on corruption charges.”
Notably, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, in 2015, had sacked then Forest and Environment and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Asim Ahmad Khan accusing him of corruption, and forwarded the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a probe. CBI, after probing the allegations, exonerated Khan, following which he was rehabilitated in the party in 2019, and appointed chairman of the Delhi State Haj Committee.
Mann, in his video message, said: “As you all know, we are an honest government. We will not tolerate corruption of even Re one. Whenever I used to go to people in villages, towns and cities, I saw hope in their eyes. I saw that they had a hope that there would be someone who would pull them out of corruption. When I was to be announced the chief ministerial face, AAP’s revolutionary chief Arvind Kejriwal had said that he would not tolerate bribery and corruption. I had promised him that we will run this government the same way. I assured him that we will not spare anyone involved in corruption.”
Adding, he said, “I want to tell everyone that I would not tolerate corruption of even Re one. So, straighten yourself. We had taken an oath at martyr Bhagat Singh’s Khatkar Kalan village, we had promised that we would run a corruption-free government. This is a historic decision by AAP.”