Ramoowalia’s daughter joins BJP
CHANDIGARH : Former Union minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia’s daughter Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
Soon after the news broke out, the ex-minister claimed that he had no knowledge about the move of his daughter who he said has betrayed all Punjabis.
“This is the saddest day of my life. She has backstabbed me and her mother. We will not keep any relationship with her in future,” said Ramoowalia.
Amanjot, however, said joining the BJP was on her mind for the past couple of years.
“I am no more a child. I am a grandmother and can take my decisions independently. (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi has done a lot for the Sikh community — be it opening of the Kartarpur corridor, the 550th Gurparb celebrations of Guru Nanak or removing more than 180 members of the Sikh community from the government’s blacklist,” she said in an interview to a web channel.
Amanjot, who remained Mohali district planning board chief during the previous Akali Dal-BJP government in Punjab, was removed from the post after her father’s surprise move to become a cabinet minister in the then Akhilesh Yadav-led Uttar Pradesh government.
Ramoowalia had unsuccessfully contested the 2012 Punjab assembly elections from Mohali on the Shiromani Akali Dal ticket.
A postgraduate in history from Panjab University, Amanjot had Canadian citizenship before she joined politics.