Won’t Accept Badals’ Leadership, Will Remain in BJP: Former IAS Parampal Kaur on Sikandar Maluka’s Return to SAD
By Baljit Balli
Bathinda, June 16, 2025:
Former IAS officer and BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Bathinda, Parampal Kaur Sidhu, has made it clear that she will not accept the leadership of the Badal family and will continue her political journey with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She categorically stated, “We respect his decision, but our political path is separate now. We believe in BJP’s leadership and direction.”
Speaking exclusively to Babushahi Network, and reacting to the political comeback of her father-in-law, senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sikandar Singh Maluka, into the SAD fold, Parampal Kaur said, “Maluka Sahib informed both me and my husband about his decision to rejoin the Akali Dal. We have no objection to his personal decision. However, we are firm in our stance—we will remain in BJP and do not subscribe to the leadership of the Badals.”
Parampal Kaur reiterated her political commitment: “I joined BJP on principles and to serve the people of Bathinda with a new vision. Our ideology is now different, and we are focused on development and good governance.”
A 2010-batch IAS officer, Parampal Kaur voluntarily resigned from civil service to enter politics. She made headlines last year when she was declared the BJP’s candidate from the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, a traditional stronghold of the Badal family.
Her husband, Gurpreet Singh Maluka, son of Sikandar Singh Maluka, is also known to be active in Akali politics. He campaigned for his wife during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, openly opposing SAD candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Sikandar Singh Maluka, a veteran SAD leader and former Punjab Education Minister, was considered close to the Badal family for decades but had remained politically inactive for the past year. He was earlier expelled from SAD due to his association with a rebel Akali faction. His return to SAD has reignited debates around factionalism and legacy politics within the party and its old guard.
Maluka, in an exclusive interview with Baljit Balli, Editor, Babushahi Network, on June 15, 2025, had openly advocated for the revival of the Akali-BJP alliance.
Political observers say the sharp divergence between Parampal Kaur and her father-in-law reflects the broader generational and ideological shifts playing out in Punjab’s political landscape.