Amid the ongoing turmoil in the Punjab Congress, former state party chief Sunil Jakhar on Thursday said there should be an end to attempts to undermine the authority of the Punjab chief minister time and again.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh met more than 20 party leaders, including ministers, MLAs and MPs at his farmhouse in Mohali's Siswan, sources said. Sidhu, who may be declared the state party chief, met four ministers and at least six MLAs at the residence of Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa in Chandigarh, 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.
The letter to Sonia Gandhi reminded her of the party's 18-point agenda "given to the last chief minister" of Punjab and said that those were "equally relevant today".
In seniority in the BJP leadership team, V K Malhotra, who passed into the ages this week, was next only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh, notes Sudhir Bisht.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) distanced itself from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Friday, saying it is not part of the opposition alliance anymore and questioning the Congress party's role in leading it.
'No sane person will ever want to stop this film in Bengal. This is going to heal the Bengali community.'
The resignation also signals a continuing saga of unaddressed concerns of young leaders, once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi has died of gunshot injuries, with police saying on Saturday it could be a case of 'accidental fire' from his own licensed pistol.
Many were hoping that with Vajpayee's NDA gone, there would be a return to the Congress normal. Nobody was prepared for the opposite. Sonia Gandhi was sceptical. This became the only issue over which Manmohan Singh took on his party bosses and risked his government. Politically, it was riskier than the 1991 reform, recalls Shekhar Gupta.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Punjab government not to take any coercive action against Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa till April 22 in connection with an FIR lodged against him over his "50 bombs have reached Punjab" remarks. Bajwa, the leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly, has been booked on charges, including misleading information that endangers the country's sovereignty and unity, after being quizzed over his "50 bombs have reached Punjab" claim. The court also issued a notice to the state of Punjab on Bajwa's plea seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him over his statement.
The three-time MLA from Phagwara served as a minister in the Cabinets including those of Beant Singh, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Amarinder Singh.
Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday skipped a meeting held by newly-appointed Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring with several party leaders from Amritsar.
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.
Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann won from Dhuri assembly seat on Thursday, whereas Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu was defeated from Amritsar East seat.
Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C on Tuesday said that Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi terming the Poonch terror attack, in which an Indian Air Force soldier was killed, a 'poll stunt' violated the model code of conduct.
Majithia and his wife claimed that members of the Vigilance Bureau barged into their house in Green Avenue in Amritsar. They claimed that a similar raid was conducted at their residence in Chandigarh.
Amarinder Singh was ousted from the party and he later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The decision was reached after an over two-hour meeting at the Punjab Congress Bhavan between chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu, who had resigned from the post of the state party chief on Tuesday.
Soon after taking the oath of office, the newly-sworn in Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said his government is standing with farmers and will appeal to the Centre to withdraw the three farm laws.
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
The remarks came after the Channi government on Tuesday accepted the resignation of advocate general APS Deol, yielding to the pressure mounted by Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu for replacing the state's AG.
In a statement, Deol said Sidhu's 'repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the state government to ensure justice in the drugs matter and the sacrilege cases'.
The auction, a violation of democratic norms, has been condemned by several political leaders. Elections to gram panchayats in Punjab will be held on October 15.
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.
BJP leader Amit Shah in a poll rally last month had asked people of Ludhiana to send Ravneet Singh Bittu to Parliament, promising them that he will make him a 'bada aadmi' (a big man).
Gandhi was abroad when the killing took place and returned over the weekend.
Sunil Jakhar was among the front runners for the chief ministerial post after the exit of Amarinder Singh. But the party preferred Charanjit Singh Channi, who became the first chief minister of Punjab from the Scheduled Caste community.
'The Congress is trying to cover up their anti-incumbency by highlighting the Dalit CM factor.'
Sidhu told Gandhi that he is working hard and will work harder now, and that he will join his duty as Punjab Congress president, Rawat said.
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday thwarted the Aam Aadmi Party government's plan to summon a special assembly session to bring in a confidence motion.
In a race to woo voters with freebies ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday promised Rs 2,000 per month for women homemakers if his party returns to power.
The meeting comes ahead of the party's Punjab unit revamp and amid reports that Sidhu may get a key role in the organisation.
He also said he even declined the post of deputy chief minister offered by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to him.
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.
A resolution to this effect was passed unanimously in a meeting of the CLP in Chandigarh.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that some Congress leaders pressured individuals to donate funds to the Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited (AJL) on instructions from senior party functionaries. The ED's chargesheet in the National Herald case claims that these individuals made payments to the company "under the influence" from senior leaders who promised them "certain favours" in party politics. The chargesheet, filed on April 9 before a local court, names Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused, along with five others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency alleges that these donations were not made voluntarily but in expectation of political benefits. The ED also found that YI and AJL received funds from various entities through "quid pro quo" arrangements, where individuals were asked to make payments for advertisements in the National Herald in exchange for past favours from Congress leaders.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and senior leader Sunil Jakhar met with former party president Rahul Gandhi at his Delhi residence on Wednesday.
The Congress leadership, though, has insisted that "all is well" in Punjab, despite the turmoil caused by the resignation of Sidhu and other leaders.
Sidhu has been pushing for the replacement of Deol, who had represented former Punjab Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini in cases related to the 2015 desecration incidents and police firing on protesters.
