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IAS officer Parampal resigns, likely to join BJP
Punjab IAS officer Parampal Kaur, daughter-in-law of former minister Sikander Maluka, applies for premature retirement amid speculations of BJP candidature.
Punjab IAS officer Parampal Kaur, who is the daughter-in-law of former minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sikander Maluka, has applied for premature retirement amid speculations that she will be Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) pick for the Bathinda constituency for the Lok Sabha polls.
The 2011-batch IAS officer, Parampal, as per service record, was due to retire in October this year. She is posted as managing director of the Punjab state industrial development corporation and sent her resignation to the Punjab chief secretary on Tuesday.
It is learnt that the chief secretary has forwarded the resignation to the chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who is yet to clear the resignation.
Despite repeated attempts, neither Parampal nor any member of the Maluka family could be contacted for a comment.
People close to the Maluka family claimed that Parampal is likely to take a political plunge from Bathinda and may join the BJP in the coming days.
Even though Sikander Maluka has time and again clarified that he would remain in the Akali Dal, Parampal’s resignation and possibility of joining the saffron party has left many surprised. The Bathinda seat has always remained a prestige battle for the Badal family, who have always backed the Maluka family throughout his career. On the other hand, Maluka’s closeness with BJP high command is an open secret and in the past few years, reports about the senior Akali leader’s possible switch to the saffron party have emerged repeatedly.
As per reports, the BJP has been in touch with the Maluka family for some time and has offered them the ticket from Bathinda.
Parampal is the wife of Maluka’s only son Gurpreet Singh, who remained Zila Parishad chief of Bathinda district during the previous SAD-BJP regime.
Parampal was recruited as block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) and remained posted as additional project director in the office of the director general, school education (DGSE) when Maluka was education minister during the Akali regime.
She was inducted into IAS in 2015 through the nomination of non-PCS officers through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
