Bathinda, May 21 (IANS): Accusing the Punjab government of being anti-women, retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Parampal Kaur on Tuesday said she was harassed over her Voluntary Retirement Scheme plea because she is a woman.

Parampal Kaur, who is the BJP candidate from Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency, said that the government tried to prevent her from contesting the elections because it feared defeat from Bathinda.

While campaigning on Tuesday she said that her husband, Gurpreet Singh Maluka, and her family have served the people for decades.

“This commitment to serve society inspired me to enter politics and I will continue serving the people as I did during my IAS tenure. However, the Punjab government’s refusal to accept my VRS application clearly shows AAP’s anti-women mentality,” she said.

She said in contrast Prime Minister Narendra Modi has transformed the lives of millions of women through the Ujjwala Yojana scheme by providing gas cylinders.

She said that the Central government also passed the Bill for 33 per cent women's representation in Parliament, demonstrating the government's desire for women to contribute significantly to societal development.

Coming down heavily on Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Parampal Kaur said she was MP from Bathinda for 15 years but did nothing for the area.

She was the Minister of Food Processing but failed to bring even a single project from her department to Bathinda.

“She could not establish a single unit in Bathinda. The projects she tries to take credit for were brought in by Nitin Gadkari and other ministers of the Modi government,” said Parampal Kaur.

“The Central government has established AIIMS and central universities in various states, including Punjab. Numerous schemes like Ayushman Bharat are running for the benefit of every poor citizen,” she added.

Punjab will go to the polls for 13 parliamentary seats on June 1.