Shiva Sareen, son of Pawan Kumar, the newly appointed chairman of Batala Improvement Trust, has been detained by ED in an alleged GST fraud case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Jalandhar detained Shiva Sareen, son of the newly appointed chairman of Batala Improvement Trust (IT) Pawan Kumar Pamma in Rs 90 crore GST fraud case.
The arrest has left congress politicians red-faced, throwing the Assembly seat's political dynamics into disarray as Pawan Pamma is a long-time confidant of Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa. Pamma's appointment as chairman was made a few days earlier, based on Bajwa's recommendations. The MP was supposed to be the chief guest at his induction ceremony set for August 31.
This Assembly seat is being eyed by three major Congress politicians, including Partap Bajwa. Cabinet Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and three-time ex-MLA Ashwani Sekhri are the other two.
Tript, sitting MLA from Fatehgarh Churian is also a close aide of Navjot Sidhu. He was in charge of the area's administrative and police affairs till the feud between Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu became public.
Shiva's arrest today implies his father's appointment is now on a knife's edge. According to sources, the PPCC chief and the CM would prefer not to have “the father of a tainted son” as the IT chief during an election year.
As soon as news of Shiva's arrest reached the city, politicians began speculating who should be the next chairman. Since Batala is Punjab's sixth biggest city, IT chairmanship is
considered a prestigious position. According to sources, Bajwa would try harder to have Pamma's appointment confirmed, but many others want a new chief to take over.
Bajwa's critics have already begun putting pressure on state politicians to appoint a new chairman.
Despite the fact that the term of current chief Kasturi Lal Seth was about to end in a few days, the MP showed his political prowess by appointing Pamma as chairman. Bajwa also appointed Gurinder Singh Chikoo as the chairman of the Batala Market Committee. According to sources, he showed his power in the area by putting two of his loyalists to high-ranking positions.