The Congress leader tweeted his request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Pakistan PM Imran Khan's announcement that the IAF pilot would be released on March 1.
The party is divided on the leadership matter with a section demanding collective leadership and another reposing faith in the Gandhi family.
Former Congress MLA from Barnala, Kewal Dhillon, and former Shiormani Akali Dal MLAs Sarup Chand Singla and Mohinder Kaur Josh also joined the BJP.
Hardev Singh, head of Nirankari Mission, was killed in a road accident in Canada on Friday.
Gandhi has written the letter, seeking passage of a resolution urging the central government to pass the bill, to the chief ministers of those states where the Congress is in power.
A day ahead of polling in Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Tuesday expressed confidence that his issue-centric campaign will succeed against the "rude and discourteous" campaign of his Congress rival Amarinder Singh.
SAD dubbed "Kejriwal's meeting" as "unconstitutional and unacceptable".
'We were ready to drink the poison of the Congress, but the statements show that the Congress is still seeped in its arrogance'
'Several leaders leaving the party in quick succession tell us that something is very wrong with the oldest party'
The meeting assumes significance as the party high command has been trying to resolve the internal rift in the Punjab unit of the Congress and there is talk of its revamp, with just months to go for the assembly polls.
The bodies of Jasdeep Singh, 39, his wife Jasleen Kaur, 27, their eight-month-old daughter Aroohi Dheri and Jasdeep's brother Amandeep Singh, 39, were found in an orchard near Indiana Road and Hutchinson Road on Wednesday evening.
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.
Glimpses from the campaign trail on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.
Agriculture Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal says she will return to Punjab only when Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is removed.
Sidhu's meeting with Gandhi lasted for more than 30 minutes and had come at a time when the Congress has finalised half of its candidates for the coming assembly elections in Punjab.
Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to take Punjab's close business as well as people-to-people relations with Canada to the next level, with a one-to-one meeting with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Amritsar on Wednesday, said an official spokesperson.
'Had the Congress made Sidhu its CM face, they would have won 80 out of 117 seats.'
"If he wants to come alone or with just a few people, there is no problem. He can come a 100 times, we have no objection. "But if he comes with a big crowd from Punjab to disturb Haryana's atmosphere, then we will not permit. We are not going to allow that," Vij said.
Amarinder Singh met Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and is learnt to have discussed the issue.
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.
'Punjab chief minister @capt_amarinder has decided to go into 7-day self quarantine, as per government protocol and the advise of his doctors, after two MLAs who met him in the Vidhan Sabha tested positive for #COVID19,' tweeted Raveen Thukral, the media advisor to the chief minister.
Punjab's 117 assembly seats are going to be a keenly-watched contest with the Congress, the AAP, the SAD-BSP alliance, and the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) battling to form the government in the state, with a probable entry of farmers' front in the form of Sanyukt Samaj Morcha.
As state-level leaders tried to placate Sidhu, he made it clear through the video that he was in no mood to budge on his 'principles'.
Yet to come to terms with the poll drubbing, knives are out in the Congress state units against Prithviraj Chavan, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Tarun Gogoi and Partap Singh Bajwa as there's a gradual crescendo seeking their resignations. Anita Katyal reports.
The meeting comes ahead of the party's Punjab unit revamp and amid reports that Sidhu may get a key role in the organisation.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
The Akali Dal is convinced that Waris Punjab De and Amritpal Singh are part of a bigger plan to create a law and order problem in the state, leading to the imposition of central rule and even the exclusion of Punjab from the Lok Sabha polls as was done in 1991.
Addressing public rallies at Barnala chowk and Bhawanigarh in Sangrur, the chief minister vowed to do whatever it takes to protect the farmers and the state from the 'devastating' effects of the 'black laws'.
About 20 Punjab Congress leaders met in Ludhiana on Tuesday, with some of them batting for a key role for Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former state party unit chief who was among the participants.
Channi slammed the AAP government over his date of appearance date being advanced and alleged it was part of the dispensation's "vendetta politics".
Tiwari said on Amarinder's remark that when the latter was PCC president, he had himself demonstrated as to how the EVMs can be gerrymandered.
Sidhu's joining may come in the next few days which are considered auspicious.
'He is worried about how best the Punjab crisis can be resolved.'
Addressing a public meeting in Badhni Kalan in Punjab's Moga district, Gandhi asserted that the contentious Acts would be revoked if the Congress was voted to power.
'While Kejriwal has lost his credibility due to his failure in Delhi, Captain Amarinder Singh is dancing on the tune of his image managers.'
The crucial meetings come amid talks of the Congress leadership making efforts to bring all leaders together ahead of next year's Punjab Assembly polls and present a united face of the party.
After many years, intricate caste calculations will dominate politics in Punjab.
'My fight is issue-based and I have stood by it for a long time. There can't be any compromise on a pro-Punjab agenda'
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