Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal (94) became the country's oldest candidate to fight elections as he filed his nomination papers from Lambi on Monday.
Punjab Police detained several farmer leaders, including Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, while they were returning from a meeting with a central delegation in Chandigarh. The police also began evicting protesting farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri border points, which have been closed for over a year. The action comes amid concerns from industrialists in Punjab over the prolonged closure of the border points, which they say has resulted in heavy losses. The meeting between the farmer leaders and the central delegation, led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was inconclusive, but the next meeting is scheduled for May 4.
Sandeep Singh said he will now serve the country in politics after doing so as a sportsperson.
Counting for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur was held on Thursday. Here's how the big names fared.
The BJP would need to contest more seats than it did in 2014 and 2019.
For Sikhs, they say, honour is the bottom line; and whatever the state of the SAD's political fortunes today, arrogance will not be helpful in the negotiation.
The preferred format would be for the top BJP leadership in the government to reach out to the alliance leaders on a case-to-case basis.
Election rallies have been on for weeks, but nothing captures the immediacy of an election like the sight of candidates filing their nomination papers.
The Punjab government has declared a holiday on Thursday as a mark of respect to the former chief minister.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigns for Navjot Singh Sidhu ahead of the Punjab assembly election on Sunday, February 20, 2022.
The Badals and Cheema had moved the top court challenging the August 2021 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court refusing to quash the summons against them by additional chief judicial magistrate, Hoshiarpur in a private complaint filed by Social activist Balwant Singh Khera on the charges of forgery, cheating and concealing facts.
Shekhawat, the BJP's poll in-charge for Punjab, said to finalise the seat sharing agreement, a joint committee will be formed comprising two leaders from each party.
Dominic Xavier asks if the bills will really benefit farmers or if this is a ploy by the Modi government to push the agricultural sector towards privatisation.
Nadda's visit to Badal's native village came days after the former Punjab chief minister said minorities 'should be taken along' to run a government.
'Go around and ask what Amritpal has done for the village and nearby areas.'
Asked whether the SAD would pull out of the National Democratic Alliance as well, Harsimrat said it was for the party to decide and a collective decision would be taken on the issue by all senior leaders together.
Sibal tweeted, "PM: Opposition afraid...all corrupt now on one platform. But Modiji: Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, JDU, PDP, BSP, were all your allies at one time and you formed government with them!"
The old alliance between the BJP and the SAD broke last year when the Shiromani Akali Dal quit the National Democratic Alliance over the farm laws.
Shah asserted that the BJP will once again form the government in Uttar Pradesh with a comfortable majority.
'2019 was fought on delivery. But in 2024, you can see the before and after effects.'
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has dismissed speculation about dissent within the Aam Aadmi Party's state unit, asserting that Congress leaders have a history of switching parties while AAP leaders remain dedicated. Mann's remarks came after Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa claimed that over 30 AAP MLAs were in touch with his party. Mann, however, dismissed Bajwa's claims, stating that Congress has a culture of switching sides. The meeting follows AAP's defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections, sparking speculation about instability in its Punjab unit. Mann reiterated the unity within AAP, highlighting his government's achievements, including closing 17 toll plazas, stopping multiple pensions for MLAs, and implementing the Delhi model in Punjab. On the promise of financial assistance of Rs 1,000 to women, he said it will be provided in the coming days. Meanwhile, the BJP has also intensified its attack on the AAP, with BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa taking a dig at Kejriwal for holding a meeting with Punjab MLAs despite AAP's defeat in Delhi.
It will be for the first time in three decades that the Badal family will have no representation in the 117-member Punjab assembly.
Gandhi is seeking responses from Congress leaders and workers through the party's Shakti app, sources said. The opinion of common people on the issue will also be sought in a day or two.
The BJP said that the SAD had informed in advance that it will not attend the meeting.
A social activist, a young law graduate, a debutante, and an eye surgeon -- Punjab polls gave gave birth to a number of giant killers from the Aam Aadmi Party, who drubbed such stalwarts as Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Badals, and even Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Amarinder Singh failed spectacularly in these assembly elections -- his new party failed to open its account, his ally BJP fell flat and he failed to even win his own constituency.
Describing the event as "da ghallughara (holocaust) of 84", Jathedar Akal Takht Gyani Harpreet Singh stressed on maintaining unity among the Sikh community.
Unemployment, delivery of justice in desecration cases, illegal sand mining and drug menace are likely to be key issues in the Punjab assembly elections.
The Janata Dal-United on Tuesday became the third major ally after the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal to snap ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party after 2019.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded two Congress turncoats and its former Union minister Vijay Sampla for next month's Punjab assembly polls as it released its second list of 27 candidates on Thursday.
Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann won from Dhuri assembly seat on Thursday, whereas Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu was defeated from Amritsar East seat.
'The 10% increase in women voters was a determined bloc of voters.' 'They were willing to try this third party, specially because it seemed it had done something in Delhi.'
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
A loud sound was heard at around 1 am outside Kalia's residence near Shastri Market in Jalandhar, police said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident.
"Akali Dal is a part of the NDA but it is a separate political outfit. They have taken this decision because of some political reasons. We have an alliance (SAD-BJP) but both are different political outfits. They (SAD) have taken a political decision," said Sharma.
Shiv Sena will support National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, party president Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday.
Three persons, including a youth leader of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, were on Wednesday arrested in connection with a brawl at a local hotel in Ludhiana, in which a senior officer of Punjab Police was seriously injured.
However, the Army, in a statement, said since Singh's cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot injury, no guard of honour or military funeral was provided, in accordance with the existing policy.
The maharaja's win in Punjab after 10 years has also rekindled the hopes for the revival of the grand old party.
