Title - Families of Bansal, nephew turn ‘strangers’

Chandigarh:
The cash-for-job scam in the Railways has apparently created differences between former Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's and his nephew (sister's son) Vijay Singla's families.Bansal, who visited his hometown Chandigarh on Saturday night after railgate, spent nearly 38 hours in the city before leaving for Delhi on Monday at 10 am, but nobody from both the families met each other.Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla is in judicial custody for allegedly taking Rs 90 lakh as bribe on May 3 for helping Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar get a promotion.Bansal and Singla reside in Sector 28-A. While Bansal's family resides in house No. 64, Singla's family lives hardly at a distance of 200 metres from Bansal's house in house Nos. 105 and 106 in the same sector.On Sunday, when Bansal showed his political strength by meeting Congress leaders at his Sector 28 residence, his friends, relatives and supporters had also turned up. However, nobody from Singla's family turned up to meet Bansal.

Before Singla's arrest, members of both families used to visit each other's residence frequently.

Requesting anonymity, a close family member of Bansal said there were no differences between the two families. However, in the present situation, nobody wanted to create another controversy and give a chance to the opposition to draw political mileage. That was why members of both families did not meet each other.

On Sunday, Bansal had reiterated that he had no business relationship with his nephew Vijay Singla.

Singla managed Bansal's campaign

Till May 3, 42-year-old Vijay Singla, former Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew, who was known as an industrialist with a clean image, was one of the most sought-after persons by businessmen, industrialists and politicians to get their works done from Bansal. Singla was the key man who looked after Bansal's campaign in the previous two elections. He is believed to have managed the minister's election funds.

Singla runs several companies

Singla and his family run a number of companies dealing in real estate, steel products and construction. The companies include Mirage Infra Limited, JTL Infra Limited, Jagan Realtors Private Limited and Chetan Industries. Singla also owned the Acropolis mall in the Industrial area, Phase I, Chandigarh.