Navjot Kaur Sidhu claims support within the Congress party after being suspended for her controversial remarks. She also accuses Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa of corruption and links to smugglers.
The Congress party has expelled Navjot Kaur Sidhu after she publicly criticized Rahul Gandhi. The expulsion follows her earlier suspension and a series of posts on X where she attacked the party leadership and questioned their commitment to Punjab.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had on Tuesday asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers after the party's drubbing in the recently held Assembly polls in these states.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier talked to the MLAs over the phone ahead of the meeting of the AICC panel on Punjab.
The Centre's move on Chandigarh has raised the hackles of various parties in Punjab, with Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal terming it as a "direct attack" on Punjab's identity and constitutional rights.
'Punjab floods are a calamity.' 'Right from Firozpur to Amritsar nearly 1 lakh homes have been completely damaged due to floods.'concern about the state of affairs.
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.
'If the Congress wants to keep the ship afloat, it will have to bury the differences.'
I don't want to hide that some questions are still being resolved, Rawat said.
After taking charge at the state Congress headquarters, the cricketer-turned-politician said there was no difference between an ordinary worker of the party and its state unit chief.
The last rites of veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Shivraj Patil were performed with full state honours in his home district, Latur, in Maharashtra on Saturday, with many top leaders in attendance.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the new president of the party's Punjab unit, notwithstanding the opposition from Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
Singh's suspension came days after he questioned the manner in which a vigilance bureau team raided the residence of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia in Amritsar in a disproportionate assets case.
News about rebels raising their head in Samana, Hoshiarpur, Baranala and Sangrur are pouring in consistently.
The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress of repeatedly supplying "oxygen" to Pakistan, and slammed the opposition party for its leader Charanjit Singh Channi's remarks questioning the veracity of Balakot air strikes after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the Congress is full of pro-Pakistan leaders who make statements against India's interests, and mocked the party for its letter that had advised its functionaries to toe the official line on the issue. Patra also criticized other Congress leaders for their comments on the Pulwama and Pahalgam terror attacks, accusing them of lowering the morale of the armed forces. He further slammed the Congress for claiming credit for the government's announcement of the caste census and said the party never carried out the exercise during its over 60-year stint in power.
The post, which has now been deleted, read, "June 1, 1984'?' 'Saka Neela Tara'. A humble tribute to all the martyrs of the day one of the attack on the Darbar Sahib by the Congress government."
While the Gandhi siblings have had their way with Amarinder Singh's ouster, the future of the party under the temperamental Navjot Sidhu's leadership is uncertain, reports Sai Manish.
The Haryana government transferred Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya after an IPS officer's suicide and allegations of caste-based discrimination.
The top Congress leadership has not accepted Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation and adopting a wait and watch policy.
A minister and three Congress leaders, considered close to Navjot Singh Sidhu, stepped down from their posts delivering a big blow to the Congress high command that was hoping of resolving the tussle between Sidhu and captain Amarinder Singh after Navjot was appointed as Punjab Congress president ahead of the Assembly elections early next year.
The Congress on Monday appointed the party's Punjab unit chief Navjot Sidhu as chairman of the state election committee.
The land pooling policy aims to kick-start a new wave of urbanisation in the predominantly rural state.
Former Congress MLA from Barnala, Kewal Dhillon, and former Shiormani Akali Dal MLAs Sarup Chand Singla and Mohinder Kaur Josh also joined the BJP.
'If you put your own party into the witness box, like what Sidhu did, and treat them as wrongdoers, then how will the people of Punjab trust the party?'
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday hailed the party's performance in the Gujarat and Punjab bypolls, calling them a 'semi-final to 2027' and a clear sign that voters would reject both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
Former MLA Harshwardhan Sapkal has been appointed as the new president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), tasked with reviving the party in the state after its crushing defeat in the last year's assembly polls. Sapkal, a veteran politician, replaces Nana Patole, who held the position since 2021. The Congress aims to rebuild its base and prepare for upcoming local body polls, including those in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Nagpur. The party will also need to work with its allies, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), to strengthen the opposition against the ruling BJP-led alliance.
Sources said the party has also tasked its senior leaders to be observers at the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Haryana to elect its new leader.
"The film has been made to insult the entire Sikh community. We will not let the movie release in Mohali or anywhere in Punjab. The SGPC is united in this matter," said Rajinder Singh Tohra, a member of the SGPC.
The merger was sealed on Friday during a meeting between Badal and Rahul at the latter's residence here where Singh and All India Congress Committee General Secretary Shakeel Ahmad were also present, they said.
Ahead of a likely organisational and government reshuffle in Punjab, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met poll strategist Prashant Kishor at his residence.
In a major organisational revamp, the Congress on Friday appointed former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel as general secretary in-charge of Punjab and Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain as general secretary for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Ahead of their planned protest in Chandigarh on March 5, several Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders were detained in early morning raids at their residences on Tuesday and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann denounced the agitating farmer unions, saying they have turned Punjab into a 'state of dharnas' and caused huge losses to it.
Congress MP and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi stoked controversy by demanding proof of the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian armed forces in Pakistan territory in the past under the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre.
"Congress state in-charge Harish Rawat is my good friend but who gave him the right to take such a big decision about Punjab at his level? What is the meaning of Captain's leadership now after the Kharge committee's decision to contest elections under Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi?" Congress MLA Pargat Singh said.
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.
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.
In a letter to Gandhi, Amarinder Singh is learnt to have mentioned that there could be an adverse impact on the party's prospects in the upcoming and crucial 2022 assembly polls by ignoring the old guard and other senior party leaders representing Hindu and Dalit communities, sources said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has informed a parliamentary panel that Pakistan was notified about Indian strikes on terror camps in their territory only after they were carried out. He also clarified that the decision to halt the military operation was taken bilaterally following a request from Pakistan, and there was no US mediation involved. Jaishankar emphasized India's zero-tolerance policy against terrorism and the importance of conveying a united message against it globally.
BJP MP and actor Ravi Kishan has been awarded the Sansad Ratna for his outstanding performance in the Lok Sabha, becoming the first actor-turned-politician to receive the honour.
One hundred years ago, a group of 10 revolutionaries carried out an operation that shook the British Empire. Utkarsh Mishra revisits the 'Kakori Conspiracy Case', a turning point in the armed struggle for independence.
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