From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Paying scant regard to the Congress party’s show cause notice to expell her, Praneet Kaur, Patiala Lok Sabha MP and wife of former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has said that she was surprised to see that a person who left the party on the issue of Sonia Gandhi being a foreign national was questioning her and made clear that the Congress was “free to take whatever action” it wishes to take.
Her reference was to INC Disciplinary Action Committee’s Member Secretary Tariq Anwar, noting that she was “surprised to see that a person who left the Congress Party in 1999 on the issue of Sonia Gandhi being a foreign national, and stayed out for 20 years till 2019, and had to face disciplinary action himself, is now questioning me on a so-called disciplinary matter.” Tariq returned to the Congress after being in the Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar for years.
In a clear show of defiance, Praneet Kaur said she had always stood by her constituents, constituency and state Punjab and would continue to do so without paying even a lip service to the party on whose symbol and ticket she won Patiala seat four time and was the Minister of State for External Affairs in Dr Manmohan Singh cabinet.
Praneet Kaur hit back at the Congress for the show-cause notice to her for alleged anti-party activities. Her defiance was expected, a senior Congress leader said, adding that since her husband has joined the BJP, she was under pressure to get expelled from the party so that she could continue to retain her Lok Sabha seat.
Talking about the Punjab leaders, she said, “The Congressmen in Punjab who have made allegations against me are those who have many issues pending against them. If you call my husband who was then chief minister, he will give you details about their doings. He protected them because they were from his own party. However, I suppose you will not do this.”
The Patiala MP said she would keep on working for her constituents. “I have always stood by my constituents, constituency and my state Punjab and have taken up their issues regardless of which government is in power. I will continue to meet the state and Union government to resolve such issues, whether you like it or not.”
Preneet Kaur ended the letter by saying, “As to action against me, you are free to take whatever action you wish.”
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