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.
Andhra Pradesh's Chandrababu Naidu has emerged as the wealthiest chief minister with declared assets worth over Rs 177 crore, followed by Arunanchal Pradesh's Pema Khandu (over Rs 129 crore) and Amarinder Singh of Punjab (over Rs 48 crore).
Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress won one seat each in the bypolls to Patiala (urban) and Talwandi Sabo Assembly seats on Monday but the Aam Aadmi Party finished a poor third.
Kejriwal, who is the AAP national convener, asserted that the people of Punjab are fed up with the present leadership ruling the state and added that the state is looking for a new type of leadership.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance released its manifesto for the February 20 Punjab polls on Saturday, promising a slew of sops for various sections, including 75 per cent reservation in all government jobs for youngsters from the state, an unemployment allowance, 35 per cent reservation for women in government jobs and massive infrastructure development.
The other main contender for the party's CM face was Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, a Jat Sikh face.
The panel, chaired by Mallikarjun Kharge, has been tasked with addressing differences between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
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.
Prominent G-23 members including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari have not been included in the Congress list of star campaigners for West Bengal assembly elections.
The Kartarpur corridor was an excellent opportunity for the Congress to seize centre-stage in Sikh religious affairs. After all, the Akalis never achieved this in their years in power, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
42 MLAs, including leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi, went to the assembly and submitted their resignations.
Jakhar, the former president of Punjab Congress, said the party had never named its CM face adding that it was only an exception that the Congress high command had declared Captain Amarinder Singh as the chief ministerial candidate in the run-up to the 2017 state assembly polls.
'The UPA was never soft on Pakistan, terrorists and even China, but Sonia Gandhi's Congress rightly earned a "soft" image on issues of hard national interest, leaving the field open for Modi to take it and wrap it around with his implicit Hindutva,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Sidhu made the sharp retort amid speculation that the former cricketer is himself eyeing the top post if the Congress wins next month's assembly polls.
Sources said Sidhu's resignation has not been received by the party and its leadership will take a call once it reaches them.
Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs brothers should embrace each other rather than we sow seeds of hatred, SAD stalwart Parkash Singh Badal said.
The Congress is banking on decisions like reducing electricity tariff and fuel prices, taken during current CM Charanjit Singh Channi's 111-day tenure.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring also took exception to the jathedar's statement and dubbed it as "mischievous".
Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu met party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday morning, and is learnt to have discussed his role in the revamp in the party's state unit ahead of assembly polls.
Before Punjab goes to the polls: The state's electoral landscape at a glance.
The Dhuri assembly seat is presently represented by Congress MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy.
Sidhu had promised that he would quit politics if his party president lost from Amethi, where he was contesting against Bharatiya Janata Party's Smriti Irani.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a number of prominent Sikhs at his residence on Friday and highlighted the works done by his government for the community.
Asserting that he will not let Punjab plunge into anarchy at any cost and nobody can be allowed to take the law into their hands, the chief minister said he has been forced to toughen his stance as his repeated appeals to perpetrators of such acts had been ignored.
Virk on Saturday said the state police should have been more prepared to deal with such a situation.
Ahead of Assembly polls due early next year in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that political strategist Prashant Kishor's Indian PAC will manage the poll campaign of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital.
Wooing voters for his party candidate in the Moga assemby byelection, Shiromani Akali Dal patriach and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday regaled the crowds with his wit and sarcasm mainly directed at his political opponents.
A rocket-propelled grenade hit the Punjab police's intelligence wing headquarters in Mohali on Monday night.
The chief minister said any distortion of historical facts will not be tolerated.
The Charanjit Singh Channi-led government selected the 1987 batch IPS officer out of a panel of three officers shortlisted by the Union Public Service Commission.
The chief minister has also directed Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta to look into the possible action that could be initiated against one of the film's producers, K V Dhillon, who had reportedly promised in writing, back in 2019, that he would shelve the movie, originally titled 'Sukha Khalwan'.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh said Sidhu is welcome to the Congress if he wants.
The two-time MP was taking part in the Rahul Gandhi-led march in Phillaur in Jalandhar where he fainted, said senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who was also marching in the yatra.
The move comes a day after Channi reached out to Sidhu and offered to resolve issues through talks.
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.
Punjab's daily COVID-19 count has been relatively low and on Tuesday, 635 new cases were recorded which pushed the active tally to 4853.
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.
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.
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