Defying Punjab government’s notice to resume work, BJP’s Bathinda candidate Parampal Kaur continues to campaign

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, May 8 

BJP candidate from Bathinda, Parampal Kaur Sidhu, has decided to dig in her heels. She continued with her election campaign in Bathinda on Wednesday, ignoring the notice given to her by the Punjab government on Tuesday evening. 

Not to be cowed down by the notice, asking her to join work or face consequences of her “unauthorised remitting of charge”, the 2011 batch officer brushed it aside saying the notice was sent just as a “diversionary tactic”. 

“They are free to initiate any action they want. How can I join duty when I have been relieved from service by the Government of India on April 10. If they (Punjab Government) want to initiate any action, they can. This will not impact my candidature and I will soon be filing my nomination papers,” she told The Tribune. 

“On the one hand, they say there is a shortage of IAS officers. Then why do they keep so many IAS and even PCS officers without postings for months? Is this the way to govern a state?  Another IAS officer put in his papers last month after he was not assigned any duty for months. I don’t think his resignation has been accepted. An IPS officer also resigned recently, saying he was resigning to get freedom from the cage. You can imagine how they treat officers,” she told The Tribune. 

Sidhu, who is the daughter-in-law of SAD leader Sikandar Singh Maluka, had put in her papers, seeking voluntary retirement on April 1.

When her application for VRS remained pending with the government, she wrote a letter to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India, on April 7, seeking voluntary retirement. This was accepted by the Centre on April 10, and she was relieved from service with immediate effect.

A letter was also sent to the state Chief Secretary by the DoPT, saying her resignation had been accepted from the forenoon of April 10. A day later, she joined the BJP and was declared the party candidate from Bathinda on April 16. 

Asked about the charge levelled against her by the state government that she had misrepresented in her application for seeking VRS, saying she wanted to take care of her mother, Parampal Kaur said that she did say she wanted to live with her mother in Bathinda, and “I will pursue other plans”.

"Obviously, I did not specify my plans. A retired person has the right to do what he or she wants. The government has no right to interfere,” she said. 

When asked why the controversy was being created about her resignation and her political journey, she said, “This (AAP) government is controversial and they keep getting embroiled in controversies. The CM was in Bathinda yesterday. Before his roadshow, people were given flowers by his partymen to shower on him. Please ask people if they showered any flowers. I heard he was cracking jokes, but is that not what he is trained for? He is good at that, but can he get any projects for the state?” she asked. 

Sidhu said that since no timeline for reply was given in the notice, she will reply to it after the election.

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