Won’t join duty, Punjab Govt free to initiate action: BJP's Bathinda candidate Parampal Kaur Sidhu

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, refusing to give any weightage to the notice served on her by the Punjab Government last evening.

Will soon file papers

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 file my nomination papers. Parampal Sidhu, BJP candidate

Not to be cowed down by the notice, instructing her to join her duties or face consequences, the 2011 batch officer brushed it aside, saying that the notice was served on her 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 file my nomination papers,” she told The Tribune.

“On the one hand, they say that 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 also put in his papers last month, after he was not assigned any duty for several 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 said.

Sidhu, who is the daughter-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal 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 Central Government 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 saffron party and was declared the party candidate from Bathinda constituency 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 she did say she wanted to live with her mother in Bathinda, and “I will pursue other plans as well”.

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

Asked why the controversy was being created about her resignation and her political journey, she quipped, “The Aam Aadmi Party government is controversial and it keeps getting embroiled itself in controversies. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was in Bathinda yesterday. Before his roadshow, people were given flowers by his party men to shower these on him and thus try to impress him. Please ask the masses if they showered any flowers.”

Sidhu said since no time limit for reply was given in the notice, she would reply to it only after the parliamentary elections.

Had sought VRS on April 1

• Parampal Sidhu, 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) 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 candidate from Bathinda on April 16

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