Khanna: A dope test challenge over the issue of drug abuse triggered a controversy at a government hospital in Khanna on Sunday after Cabinet Minister Tarunpreet Singh Saundh tested negative. Opposition leaders questioned the manner in which the minister’s sample was collected.
Saundh reached the hospital around 10 minutes before 11am. His urine sample was collected in the room of SMO Dr Maninder Singh Bhasin and the report subsequently came back negative. Akali Dal and Congress leaders later reached the hospital and questioned why the minister’s sample had been taken first.
A heated argument broke out among the leaders in the SMO’s room, with the situation reportedly reaching the verge of a physical confrontation. Police intervened and escorted Saundh out of the premises.
Later, Akali Dal leader Yadvinder Singh Yadu and former minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli also underwent dope tests, both of which returned negative, according to the report.
Saundh rejected the opposition’s allegations, saying his critics had no issue to raise and were therefore making baseless allegations. He said the opposition could not debate development-related issues and had now been left with no issue even after the dope-test challenge. Saundh said his report was in the public domain.
Yadu challenges Saundh to undergo tests at PGI, Ambala
Akali Dal Halqa in-charge Yadvinder Singh Yadu alleged that the minister’s sample was not collected properly and questioned the role of the SMO. He challenged Saundh to accompany him to PGI and Ambala for another dope test, saying he would also undergo the test there and make his report public.
Former minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli also alleged that the minister’s sample was not collected through a transparent process. He questioned why the sampling and testing process was not conducted on camera or livestreamed, arguing that if the procedure was transparent, the entire process—from collection of the sample to testing and preparation of the report—should have been recorded.
