Hours after taking a 'U-turn' by informing the high court that it is withdrawing its notification dissolving all gram panchayats in the state, the Punjab government suspended two senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers on Thursday for a 'technically-flawed' decision.
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.
Unless Punjab has a chief minister who is able to look beyond community/vote bank politics, carry all sections of society, stop appeasing while addressing genuine concerns and break the stranglehold of the SGPC over Sikh affairs, my beloved home state is bound to die and conversions will be rampant, warns Sanjeev Nayaar.
With numbers on its side -- the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college -- and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, the AIADMK and the YSRCP, the NDA candidate will likely sail through the contest.
By comparing I.N.D.IA. with banned terror outfits, Modi has exhibited the kind of nervousness never ever associated with him even at the height of the Gujarat riots, and certainly since his prime ministerial days, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The NCERT has dropped references to the demand for a separate Sikh nation of Khalistan from the class 12 political science textbook following objections from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), according to top education ministry officials.
Filing nomination from the Amritsar East seat, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday dared his bte noir Amarinder Singh to leave Patiala and take on him.
Amid the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, a heated argument broke out between Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday when the former accused the latter of getting the farm laws enacted while she was a minister in the Union Cabinet, and added that she 'doing drama' over the laws and showing 'fake support' to the farmers' cause.
SS Randhawa mentioned Modi's statement 'ghar me ghus ke marenge' and asked how did the Pulwama terror attack take place then.
'The Badals have made the Akali Dal a family enterprise and undermined the Sikh faith. They have no right to call themselves Akalis. We have approached the Election Commission to register ourselves as the Akali Dal with a different nomenclature. We will impress on people's minds that we are the real Akali Dal' Sai Manish reports on the fight for supremacy over the Akali Dal.
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.
Several legislators in states on Monday said they have cross-voted in favour of National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu by not following their respective party lines in the presidential election.
'The Khalistanis get bulk of the money from abroad.' 'Where did Amritpal's Mercedes come from, which costs well over Rs 60 lakhs?' 'Where does his fleet of vehicles come from?' 'Local Punjabis can certainly not contribute this kind of money.'
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.
Sikh Federation UK, which has styled itself as one of the largest Sikh organisations based in the UK, said Avtar Singh was terminally ill with blood cancer. He was on a life support system for the last few days.
Leaders of 38 parties have confirmed their participation in a meeting of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to be held in the national capital on Tuesday, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda said.
Two gangsters, who were arrested in connection with singer Sidhu Moosewala murder case and lodged in the Goindwal Sahib Central Jail in Punjab's Tarn Taran district, were killed in a clash among inmates on Sunday, police said.
The Canadian government on Tuesday named Satinder Singh Brar, nicknamed Goldy Brar, the alleged mastermind in the killing of famous singer-politician Sidhu Moosewala, among the country's top 25 wanted criminals.
Another issue on the party's agenda is the expansion of the ruling NDA, which has seen steady depletion in the recent years with traditional BJP allies like the Janata Dal-United and Akali Dal leaving the grouping.
About 40 per cent of sitting MPs have criminal cases registered against them out of which 25 per cent have declared serious criminal cases under charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women, according to poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi also alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party's nationalism is "fake" and "they are not patriots".
'And when the floats go by in the parade garlanded and decorated with the posters of gun toting assassins and murderers and martyrs, you look the other way.' 'And in return we will bring you 10,000 votes because the people of the gurdwaras will vote as we tell them to vote.'
Counting for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur was held on Thursday. Here's how the big names fared.
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 five-time former Punjab chief minister died at a private hospital in Mohali near Chandigarh on Tuesday, nine days after he was admitted there with breathing problems. He was 95.
Sukhbir Badal also announced the candidature of his 94-year-old father and five-time state Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the Lambi assembly seat.
The court of judicial magistrate first class Rahul Garg also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on Prithi Singh a resident of Baghapurana and Amardeep Singh and Mithu Singh, both residents of Malke village.
After a spirited eight-hour debate in which 60 members participated, the Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, with 454 members voting in favour and two against it.
'Hopeful of a seat arrangement with BJP in polls if farmers protest is resolved in farmers' interest'
The leaders attacked the BJP, accusing it of trying to create "Hindu-Muslim disturbances" to benefit politically and making false claims and promises.
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.
The Shiromani Akali Dal-Sanyukt will contest on 17 seats.
Aam Aadmi Party calls Bhagwant Mann its people's choice for CM candidate in Punjab. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com traces what makes Mann so indispensable for his party.
Five-time former Punjab chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, who was admitted to a private hospital in Mohali over a week ago, died on Tuesday. He was 95.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigns for Navjot Singh Sidhu ahead of the Punjab assembly election on Sunday, February 20, 2022.
The move came after the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government on Monday approved an amendment to the British-era Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925.
'He is worried about how best the Punjab crisis can be resolved.'
Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sushil Rinku on Saturday won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election, defeating his nearest rival and Congress nominee Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by a margin of 58,691 votes.
It will be for the first time in three decades that the Badal family will have no representation in the 117-member Punjab assembly.
Elections will be held on June 10 to fill 57 Rajya Sabha seats from 15 states falling vacant due to the retirement of members on different dates between June and August, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
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