The Shiromani Akali Dal had on Saturday quit the National Democratic Alliance over the farm bills issue.
Rebel Akali leader Gurpartap Singh Wadala slammed Badal's move, saying instead of showing "a sense of renunciation", he issued a "dictatorial order" aimed to sideline those who want a "change" for strengthening the party
Some candidates in these two states have been provided security till the poll process ends.
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.
Eight Punjab cabinet ministers and a senior bureaucrat were found to be "absent" from office during a surprise check on Tuesday by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
They handed the apology letter to Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh at the Akal Takht Secretariat at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The Akal Takht is the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs.
Punjab has over 400,000 employees and pensioners and about 125,000 staff members in its corporations and boards.
If everything goes according to plan, a resuscitated SAD could emerge as a central player in Punjab in three years, notes Aditi Phadnis.
The legendary PT Usha will be officially elected as the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) during the governing body's polls on Saturday, ushering in a new era in country's sports administration.
PT Usha set to get elected as IOA chief, first woman occupant of top job
The Akali Dal-BJP alliance won on four seats and the AAP bagged one.
A beaming Amarinder Singh thanked the people of the state for their overwhelming support, saying he was committed to good governance and tackling the drug menace.
'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.
He said the farmer's agitation in Punjab against the new farm laws could lead to 'serious consequences' for national security and alleged that China and Pakistan were seeking to disturb peace in the country's border state. Stressing that his intention was not to disturb peace, Singh said he was trying to 'save' his state's farmers as the Centre was 'playing with' their livelihoods.
The high-voltage campaign for the February 4 assembly elections in Punjab came to an end on Thursday evening following hectic campaigning by various political parties.
The assembly polls are seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, especially in the wake of demonetisation.
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