Railways relaxes notice period rule for Phogat, Punia; to relieve them early

Both Punia and Phogat recently joined the Congress and the latter has been given a ticket to contest election from Julana constituency in Haryana

New Delhi: The Northern Railway has initiated the process of accepting the resignation of wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, with both players expected to be relieved “as early as possible,” railway sources said on Sunday.

Both Punia and Phogat recently joined the Congress and the latter has been given a ticket to contest election from Julana Assembly constituency in Haryana.

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“The provision of serving three-month notice period after resigning by a railway employee will not come in the way of relieving these two players as we have decided to relax the norm in their cases,” a senior railway official told PTI.

Railways sources said both the players “will be relieved possibly today or as early as possible.” The Northern Railway (NR) had earlier issued show cause notices to them after they met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to join his party.

The NR had said the show cause notice was part of the service norm as they were government employees. Following the notice, both resigned from the Railways.

Speculation was rife that Phogat might not be able to contest elections in view of the three-month notice period norm. According to election rules, she needs to get officially relieved from the Railways to be eligible to contest election.

Now, since Railways has initiated her resignation acceptance process, there is no be hurdle in her contesting election, a Northern Railway official said.