CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab IAS officer Parampal Kaur, the daughter-in-law of senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sikander Singh Maluka, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party headquarters in Delhi on Thursday. Kaur is expected to be fielded by the BJP from the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, where three-time Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal is aiming for a fourth straight win.

Kaur was inducted into the BJP at an event in the presence of Union minister Hardeep Puri, general secretary Vinod Tawde and party in-charge for Punjab, Vijay Rupani.

“No other party has the vision for the country, the way BJP has. India’s passport is getting stronger day by day because the world is recognising India’s strength under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership,” Kaur told reporters at the BJP event in Delhi.

Minutes later, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said she may have made her move without completing all the formalities to exit the civil services..

“Parampal’s resignation has not been accepted yet. Biba ji ! The speed with which you became IAS, you must understand that there are certain procedures to leave the job as well. Please do understand those procedures otherwise one can lose money earned during the service,” Mann said on X, formerly Twitter

Kaur, a 2011 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, recently applied for voluntary retirement ahead of her retirement on 31 October as she wasn’t getting a sense of satisfaction from her job any longer, people close to the family said. Kaur was posted as the managing director of the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation.

Parampal joined government service as a block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) and was posted as an additional project director attached to the office of director general, school education when her father-in-law was the education minister in the Parkash Singh Badal regime. She was elevated to the IAS in 2015.

Her father-in-law Sikander Maluka has declared that he would not switch ship and will stay in the Akali Dal. But people aware of the developments indicated that party leaders had been in touch with the family for some time.

Kaur’s husband Gurpreet Singh, was Zila Parishad chief of Bathinda district during the previous Akali Dal-BJP regime.

AAP has already named Punjab agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian as its Bathinda candidate. There are rumours that the Congress may field Amrita Warring, wife of Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring,