Actor-philanthropist Sonu Sood's sister Malvika Sood on Monday joined the Congress, with Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi batting for her candidature from Moga for the February 14 assembly polls.
The other main contender for the party's CM face was Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, a Jat Sikh face.
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.
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.
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.
The probe report, however, gave a 'clean chit' to Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was the chief guest at the Dussehra event, saying 'she had no role in organising the event'.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has been at loggerheads with the chief minister, attacking him on issues like the alleged delay in the completion of a probe into the 2015 desecration of Sikh texts and the subsequent police firing on protesters.
The Congress on Friday released a list of 30 star campaigners for the February 20 Punjab Assembly elections and left out names of Tewari and Ghulam Nabi Azad, who are among the prominent members of the 'G-23' leaders who had written to the party leadership seeking an organisational overhaul.
It has been a double whammy for the cricketer-turned-politician since there is already an outcry over his visit to Pakistan.
Cricketer-turned politician Sidhu had courted controversy by hugging Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa during his visit to Pakistan for the swearing-in of Imran Khan as prime minister.
The Big B -- alongwith Kapil Dev -- lent support to Navjot Singh Sidhu, during the launch of the latter's website.
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The new faces in the Channi ministry are Randeep Singh Nabha, Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Gurkirat Singh Kotli.
As part of country-wide fill-the-jail campaign against fuel price hike, a number of BJP leaders and workers on Friday courted arrest in Punjab and Haryana.
'It's the Board of Control for Cricket in India who has sold it to the sponsors, who are paying billions and billions for Sehwag, for Sachin Tendulkar, for Harbhajan Singh. So don't blame the cricketer alone,' says former India batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu.
The first week of the resumed Budget session of Parliament is likely to remain disrupted with Congress determined to vociferously raise the dismissal of the Uttarakhand government
"My department is being singled out publicly. I always regard him as my elder I always listen to him."
The BJP government has recommended these names to President Pranab Mukherjee. A communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan is expected shortly.
Taking umbrage at Navjot Singh Sidhu's remark in which he termed him as an "anti-national leader", Gujarat Parivartan Party president Keshubhai Patel on Saturday appealed to the Election Commission to take suo motu action against the Bharatiya Janata Party MP and his party.
'Everything else is a sham.'
The Punjab police on Friday claimed to have busted an ISI-backed terror module jointly handled by Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and Pakistan-based gangster Harvinder Singh Rinda with the arrest of two of its operatives.
Cricketer-turned-politician and Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Lok Sabha from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu hit out at the Union government and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupender Singh Hooda for their inability to provide immediate relief to thousands of people in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Sirsa and three other districts of Haryana, who have been affected by the recent flash floods caused by breaches in Satluj Yamuna link cannal and Ghaghar river.
The former cricketer reiterated his love for his state, saying he would choose it over any party or family.
Senior Indian cricketers Kapil Dev, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sunil Gavaskar have been invited for the ceremony said a PTI leader.
Sources said that Mann is likely to join the Aam Aadmi Party.
Among these are Labh Singh Ugoke, who defeated former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi in the Bhadaur assembly segment by a margin of 37,558 votes, and Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, who beat Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal in his traditional Lambi seat by 11,396 votes.
Ayurvedic doctor-turned-politician Raman Singh was on Thursday sworn in as chief minister of Chhattisgarh for the third consecutive term.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence here and urged him to repeal the three farm laws.
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 move comes a day after Channi reached out to Sidhu and offered to resolve issues through talks.
Urvish Kothari looks beyond the myth of Narendra Modi and highlights the chinks in the Gujarat chief minister's armour.
There might be growing criticism against Sachin Tendulkar after a string of poor performances but former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu feels the senior batsman's presence is crucial at a time when the team is going through a transitional phase.
England great Geoffrey Boycott might have written him off, but the out-of-form Virender Sehwag today received support from former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu, who said the opener was far from finished.
Former India batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu heaped praise on Shikhar Dhawan for scoring the fastest Test century on debut on Saturday.
With things threatening to get out of control and descend to fisticuffs the debate was hastily called off
The BJP is upbeat about fielding Sidhu as its nominee because he has the ability to carry with him four assembly seats in the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency.
The 52-year-old former cricketer and commentator who is also a popular television personality, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April.
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His remarks came on a day when Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi announced slashing of the power tariff by Rs 3 per unit for the domestic sector and increasing the dearness allowance for government employees.
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