Defiant Congress MP and wife of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, Preneet Kaur made a written reply to the party's show-cause notice to her saying the party is free to take action against her. Amarinder Singh joined the BJP after being ousted from Congress.
"...I've always stood by my constituents, constituency and my state Punjab and I have taken up their issues regardless of which government is in power...As to action against me, you're free to take whatever action you wish," Her written reply read.
At the onset, I am surprised to see that a person who left the Congress party in 1999 on the issue of Mrs Gandhi being a foreign national, and stayed out for 20 years till 2019, and had to face Disciplinary action himself, is now question me on a so-called disciplinary matter, her letter written to Congress Disciplinary Committee's Tariq Anwar on February 6 stated.
Congress is welcome to take whatever decision it wants: Kaur
Earlier, Suspended for her alleged anti-party activities, Congress' Patiala MP Preneet Kaur Saturday said the party is welcome to take whatever decision it wants but asserted she always gave her best to the party.
The Congress on Friday suspended her and also asked her to explain why she should not be expelled for "anti-party activities".
"The Congress is welcome to take whatever decision it wants. I have always given my best to the party and to the people who have repeatedly elected me. I owe it to them and will continue to serve them, as always.
I derive my strength from my people. Everything else is secondary," Kaur said on Twitter on Saturday.
Congress' allegations against her
Meanwhile, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring accused the former Union minister of weakening the Congress in Patiala, and said she should leave the party on her own.
"It would have been better if Preneet Kaur ji quit the party on her own. She left no stone unturned in weakening the Congress in Patiala," claimed Warring.
The Congress' disciplinary panel member secretary Tariq Anwar had said the action against Kaur follows complaints against her from the party's Punjab unit chief Amarinder Raja Warring and other state leaders that she was helping the BJP in the state.
"The Congress president has received a complaint from Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, president of PCC Punjab, that Preneet Kaur, MP (Lok Sabha) from Patiala is indulging in anti-party activities to help BJP. Some other senior Congress leaders of Punjab also share this view," Anwar had said in a statement on Friday.
Similar issue cropped up in 2021
It is not the first time that Kaur has been served a show-cause notice by the party.
In November 2021, the party issued her a show-cause notice seeking an explanation for her alleged "anti-party activities".
Kaur had then said that she did not receive any such notice, but had only read about it in newspapers and on social media.
In May last year, Punjab Congress chief Warring had also said that Kaur was not with the party anymore.
In the 2022 state assembly polls, Kaur even campaigned for her husband Amarinder Singh who contested the elections as an ally of the BJP.
Kaur had been an MP in 1999, 2004 and 2009. She lost the Patiala Lok Sabha seat in 2014 but won it back in 2019.
(With PTI input)
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