More than a year after she was issued a show cause notice for “anti-party” activities and an explanation was sought, Congress MP from Patiala Preneet Kaur was on Friday suspended from the party “for helping BJP”.

The Congress high command’s action came more than one year after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) had issued her a show cause notice in November 2021 warning of “strict action” in case she fail to respond, after Preneet had indicated that she may join the new political party, floated by her husband and Punjab’s former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. As per information available, neither Preneet responded to the notice, nor did the high command take any action against her despite the fact that she openly campaigned for the candidates of BJP and its allies during the 2022 state assembly polls in February last.

Preneet Kaur, commonly known as Maharani in her constituency, has been a four-time Congress MP. In the run-up to 2022 polls, she participated in a roadshow of Union Minister Rajnath Singh when he campaigned in Patiala for Capt Amarinder.

Notably, Capt Amarinder, after being made to step down by the Congress high command as the Chief Minister in September 2021, had floated his own party — the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC), and teamed up with the BJP to contest 2022 state assembly elections.

Capt Amarinder, who lost the elections, subsequently joined the BJP in September 2022, merging his PLC with the saffron party. Along with Capt Amarinder, his daughter Jai Inder Kaur, son Raninder Singh also joined the BJP. Currently, Capt Amarinder is the member of BJP’s national executive.

On August 30 last year, Punjab Congress leaders led by Warring passed a resolution to seek Preneet’s “formal expulsion”. The resolution was passed at a meeting of Congress leaders, including sitting MLAs, MPs, and the nominees who contested the February 20, 2022, elections.

Now, the Congress high command has suspended the former Union Minister from the party for “indulging in anti-party activities to help BJP”.

AICC general secretary and member secretary of Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) Tariq Anwar, in a press statement issued on Friday, stated that Kaur was suspended after the Congress president received a complaint from Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who alleged that she was indulging in anti-party activities.

Tariq also noted that “some other Congress leaders of Punjab also share this view. The complaint was referred to the Disciplinary Action Committee of the AICC for necessary action”.

“The DAC carefully considered it and decided that Kaur should be suspended from the party with immediate effect,” he said adding that she has been called to “show cause within three days as to why she should not be expelled from the party”.