Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh

A Punjab Cabinet minister has been accused of sending an “inappropriate text” to a woman government official, The Indian Express has learnt. The official complained to a senior official in the government, and when the matter reached Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, he got the minister to apologise to the official, according to multiple sources.

The minister had allegedly sent her texts earlier, and she reportedly warned him against it. He had stopped for some time, but she decided to complain after a late-night text more than a month ago.

Sources said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi is aware of the complaint, and the party is deliberating on whether the minister should continue in the Cabinet.

“The high command is learnt to have taken a strong view of the complaint. It has been conveyed to us that we cannot allow such incidents to happen,” said a government functionary, adding that there was pressure from the high command to take “an extreme action”.

The woman officer had earlier thwarted attempts to get her posted in the minister’s department, sources said. They said that she was satisfied with the action taken by the Chief Minister, and that she understood that stricter action was in the offing once Amarinder returns from his foreign tour.

The sources added that she would have lodged an FIR had her complaint not been taken seriously.

The minister told The Indian Express that he had never sent any messages to a woman official. He also said that no complaint had been lodged against him by any woman official.