If we accept that there is a challenge in Punjab today, any realistic progress can only be made if the rest of the country, especially the government and the ruling party, engage with this sense of grievance, points out Shekhar Gupta
The decision of its two oldest allies to walk out means that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also president of the Janata Dal-United, is now the oldest BJP ally besides being the most powerful.
Held under the aegis of the Sikh Student's Federation at Moti Bagh Gurdwara here, the event saw a bhog (feast) being organised "in the memory" of Gandhi's killers Kehar Singh, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, and recitation of the 'Akhand Path'.
He asserted that the government purchase of farm produce will remain, adding that the mechanism of minimum support price will continue in the same way it always has.
'Congress will try to use Malerkotla to woo Muslim votes in UP. Muslims across the country have definitely taken note of this move in Punjab. But they vote only for a party that can defeat the BJP. The Congress doesn't seem to be capable of doing that'
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday said he would file a defamation case against Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejirwal, who has dubbed him as a dishonest man after the Enforcement Directorate carried out raids at many places, including at the premises of the Congress leader's nephew.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice on Thursday during Question Hour when Opposition members protested against the move to create a separate Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee by the Congress government in Haryana. As soon as the House assembled for the day, Akali Dal members opposed creation of a separate SGPC for Haryana.
'The honourable prime minister virtually handpicked me for the Amritsar East seat.' 'Amit Shahji announced that if I am elected, the whole of Punjab will be drugs free.'
'In Punjab, disappointment among the people about the AAP government has already set in.'
Former Congress MLA from Barnala, Kewal Dhillon, and former Shiormani Akali Dal MLAs Sarup Chand Singla and Mohinder Kaur Josh also joined the BJP.
Such is the situation of the government in Punjab, the prime minister said while hitting out the Congress, and asserted that he will come to Jalandhar again and pay obeisance at the Devi Talab Mandir.
Singh noted that opposition members tore rule book, threw papers at the desk of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was in the Chair, and climbed the officials' table -- something, he added, he had never witnessed before.
Expressing 'pain' over opposition parties boycotting the Constitution Day event organised by the Lok Sabha secretariat on Friday, speaker Om Birla said staying away from such non-partisan events held by Parliament is not good for the health of democracy.
A recent pre-election survey suggests that AAP may win 53 seats in the 117-member Punjab assembly and reduce the Congress to just 43.
JD-U leaders contend that R C P Singh may have misled the BJP leadership into believing that Nitish Kumar was ready for a smaller share in power at the Centre.
After his statement, opposition leaders will speak and if required Singh may give a clarification, the sources said.
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal's bullet-proof car was damaged and four people were injured in a clash between Congress and Akali workers during the filing of nomination papers for the Jalalabad municipal polls in Fazilka on Tuesday, officials said.
Sidhu was in Patiala to take part in a protest against inflation when the Supreme Court verdict came in.
Farmer outfits on Friday started mobilising more batches of peasants from Haryana and Punjab to head towards Delhi's borders to join the ongoing agitation against agri laws, even as political parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Indian National Lok Dal threw their weight behind them.
Sidhu in a press conference on Friday had questioned the Channi-led state government over the steps taken for the delivery of justice in the cases of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and drug trafficking.
Kamalpreet Kaur, who qualified for the Olympics discus throw finals at second place with an impressive performance on Saturday, told her father that she would give her best to win a medal at the Tokyo Games.
Here is the list of constituencies where results have been announced.
Celebrations broke out outside the Rajasthan BJP headquarters in Jaipur and the party workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets as Murmu emerged victorious in the presidential poll.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party's first-timer and an eye surgeon from Bhadaur and Chamkaur Sahib seats, respectively.
Both the BJP and the Congress have banked on new and young faces, some of whom have been nominated by the parties for the first time.
Strains in relations between the SAD and the BJP had begun surfacing for over a year.
The miscreants sprayed red and black paint on the statue at the Salem Tabri area in Ludhiana, police said, adding that they carried out the act in full public glare and blamed Rajiv Gandhi for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Pawar said Nitish took the decision anticipating the crisis the BJP was planning to bring on.
The dinner was followed by a meeting in which nearly two dozen allies facilitated Prime Minister Modi.
Last month, the Channi government replaced the state's advocate general A P S Deol after strong opposition from Sidhu.
BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu have made this request to P S Badal
Badal said the farmers are waging a bitter struggle in the severe cold just to secure their fundamental right to life.
SAD dubbed "Kejriwal's meeting" as "unconstitutional and unacceptable".
Members of opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiromani Akali Dal on Tuesday stalled proceedings in Lok Sabha over the issue of suicides by farmers across the country, forcing brief adjournment of the House.
Most political leaders in Punjab have come out in the open to oppose him, unlike the early 1980s when political leaders were scared of speaking against Bhindranwale, observes Sudhir Bisht.
The Congress policy of minority appeasement and burdening the middle-class has cost it dear in Punjab
However, it was BJP, which put up an unexpectedly impressive performance bagging 19 of the 23 seats it contested.
The Aam Aadmi Party has nominated former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Lovely Professional University founder Ashok Mittal, AAP MLA Raghav Chadha, IIT Delhi faculty Sandeep Pathak and industrialist Sanjeev Arora for the March 31 Rajya Sabha polls.
Sikh organisations, including hardline groups, gathered to take part in 'Sarbat Khalsa', seeking to free Sikh institutions from political influence.
His remarks came a day after AAP Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann took a dig at the cricketer-turned-politician and asked him to tweet about the 'funds' allegedly accepted by the ruling Congress from private power companies in the state.
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