Ahead of the Punjab assembly polls, former Army chief Gen Joginder Jaswant Singh on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Chandigarh in the presence of the party leadership, including Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, Samajwadi Party, Shiromani Akali Dal have decided to join forces to oppose the government's move to hike the diesel prices every month for the next one year and also increase the price of gas cylinders by Rs 50 to cut down the cost of subsidy.
The swearing-in ceremony of the Mann's cabinet will be held at Punjab Raj Bhawan at 11 am, officials said.
The execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a co-accused in the killing of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995, is taking political connotations in the state even as top leadership of main parties Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress treaded cautiously on the issue here in Chandigarh.
Accusing the government of large scale corruption, Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha on Thursday asked it to disclose the names of those who have stashed unaccounted money in foreign banks.
Several luminaries of Indian politics are descending in Lucknow to attend the historic swearing-in ceremony of 38-year-old Akhilesh Yadav as the youngest ever chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Ranjit Singh Rana and another co-accused were on Thursday arrested in the case of gunning down of an assistant sub inspector of Punjab police while saving his daughter from eve teasers.
Amid prayers and a 21-gun salute, his body was consigned to flames at Smriti Sthal on the banks of Yamuna where Vice President Hamid Ansari and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi were also present.
With the Samajwadi Party, Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging victorious in the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa respectively, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called up their leaders to congratulate them.
The five-state assembly poll results announced on Thursday brought gloom for several political heavyweights, including two current and five former chief ministers, who lost the electoral battle from their respective seats.
Amid sporadic violence that left a 16-year-old boy dead and around 10 injured, nearly 77 per cent of 1.76 crore voters on Monday exercised their franchise under tight security to elect 117 members to the Punjab assembly.
Former Punjab Member of Legislative Assembly Malkit Singh Keetu on Monday died after he was shot at allegedly by his nephew in Moga district over a property dispute, a senior police official said.
One of the big names facing off in Punjab's single-phase election on Monday is Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Around 1.76 crore voters will seal the fate of 1,078 candidates, including the two chief ministerial aspirants Parkash Singh Badal of ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party and Amarinder Singh of opposition Congress, in fray for 117 assembly seats in Punjab where polling will take place on Monday amidst tight security.
Campaigning for the Punjab assembly elections came to an end on Saturday evening and major political parties -- the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress -- are keeping their fingers crossed.
'The President of India, as advised by the prime minister, has accepted the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect,' the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.
Despite being one of the "most interesting countries", India needs to get over its ambitions to become a superpower nation, historian Ramachandra Guha has said.
With six days to go for state assembly polls in Punjab, political parties have intensified their campaign in the state. The outgoing ruling alliance of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Bhartiya Janata Party is banking on Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and L K Advani to regain the power in the state.
'When the assembly elections happened in West Bengal, it was predicted that Mamata didi will win only by a thin margin but she won with a huge margin'
'Mr Badal wanted to talk to a member of the Gandhi family to bring about some sort of rapprochement between the Akalis and the Congress which were the two major parties at that time.'
Rahul Gandhi on Thursdat claimed seven out of 10 youths in Punjab have a drug problem, triggering a controversy with ruling the Akali Dal asking how the Congress leader came to this "mathematical conclusion" on drug addiction in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday played down the remark made by Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on backing Foreign Direct Investment in retail if the United Progressive Alliance government addresses the concerns of traders.
A day after pledging support to the United Progressive Alliance, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday met Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
There is anti-incumbency in urban areas. Rural Punjab, the Akali base, will hold the key.
The Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine is heading for a clean sweep in the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti polls with winning 14 Zila Parishad and 130 Block Samiti seats and leading in most of the seats as per the results and trends available till noon on Tuesday.
Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday took a jibe at Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray -- for his remarks that Sushma Swaraj is the "only deserving" prime ministerial candidate in the Bharatiya Janata Party -- saying it is premature to say anything at this stage.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several central ministers and chief ministers and leaders cutting across party lines condoled the demise of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday and hailed his immense contributions to the state as well as the country.
Peeved at the Punjab government for not heeding to their demands, teachers demanding permanent jobs in the state on Tuesday threatened to immolate themselves after one of their lady colleagues was allegedly slapped in public view by an Akali Dal sarpanch. A delegation of Education Guarantee Scheme teachers association, led by its chief Pritpal Singh, on Tuesday went to the private residence of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for a "meeting to resolve their problems"
Bharti accused the media of distorting her statement, attributing it to the BJP's agenda.
While the Congress party's popularity is on the wane, an aggressive Akali Dal is moving in quickly to encash on the hurt feelings of the Sikh community and pitch itself as the only party which works for its interests, says Anita Katyal
Veteran Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, facing trial in a Delhi court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on Monday blamed his political opponents for his ordeal and said they had falsely implicated him in the case.
Following the death of Lok Janshakti Party leader and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Ramdas Athawale of Republican Party of India is the lone member from the Bharatiya Janata Party allies in the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.
He served as president of the SGPC, considered the mini-parliament of the Sikh community, for a record 27 years at a stretch.
The ashes of Dara Singh, who passed away on July 12, were immersed by his three sons.
'If you put your own party into the witness box, like what Sidhu did, and treat them as wrongdoers, then how will the people of Punjab trust the party?'
Punjab Chief Minister and ruling Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal on Monday said his party will go by the decision of the National Democratic Alliance on the forthcoming presidential elections.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal expressed his gratitude to Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh for his efforts in cleaning polluted rivers in the state. Badal appreciated the central minister's efforts through a unanimous resolution adopted by the state assembly on September 30, which thanked Ramesh for his "whole-hearted assistance to the scheme to make the state of Punjab pollution free."
'Had the Congress made Sidhu its CM face, they would have won 80 out of 117 seats.'
Lok Sabha proceedings were washed out for the second consecutive day on Wednesday after the House was repeatedly adjourned due to protests by opposition members who were demanding a separate discussion on the farm laws issue.
The matter is being investigated, they said and added that so far, there is no evidence that the "Khalistani" slur was used.
