New Delhi: The Railways issued a show cause notice to wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia on September 4 while taking note of media reports and social media claiming both would join the Congress party. The Railways had asked them to reply within 10 days.
They were asked to clarify their stand because being a government employee, joining a political party amounts to the violation of service rule, an official said. Both Phogat and Punia were employed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with Northern Railways.
Notably, on Friday, Phogat and Punia joined the Congress at the party headquarters, ahead of the Assembly elections in Haryana. The duo had also resigned from the Railways.
Elections to the 90-member Haryana Legislative Assembly are scheduled to take place on October 5. The counting is expected to take place along with Jammu and Kashmir on October 8.
"On September 4, show-cause notices were issued to Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia after taking note of media reports and social media posts claiming that both of them joining a political party. They were asked to give their response within 10 days," Northern Railways Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay told ETV Bharat.
In response to another question, he categorically said that only a show-cause notice has been issued to the duo to explain their stand over it. "We have not initiated any action against them," Shekhar added.
Earlier in the day, before joining the Congress, Phogat shared a copy of her resignation addressed to the Railways citing personal reasons and expressing gratitude to the Railways for allowing her to serve.
After inducting Phogat and Punia into the party fold, Congress general secretary in-charge of Organisations, KC Venugopal slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre over the show-cause notices.
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