With the Aam Aadmi Party looking set for a clean sweep in the Punjab assembly polls, its leader Raghav Chadha on Thursday said the party will emerge as the national and natural replacement of the Congress in the coming days.
"Indian National Congress welcomes S Navjot Singh Sidhu into the Congress family and we thank Congress vice president for his visionary approach in bringing together like-minded people on common platform under the Congress umbrella," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a statement.
Telangana Minister J Krishna Rao told reporters that the chances of survival under the circumstances are "not that good."
There was more to him than he let on, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
The Congress and the AAP fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi while they had contested separately in Punjab.
In the past, the House has passed a number of resolutions urging the Central government to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab, Mann said.
In both the states, the Congress has conceded defeat, admitting that price rise may have been one of the major reasons for the drubbing.
Despite being lodged in prison, Bishnoi has allegedly managed to execute murders of many high-profile people, including Punjabi singer Siddhu Moosewala in 2022, Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi in 2023, besides orchestrating firing outside the residences of singers A P Dhillon and Gippy Garewal in Canada, the officer said.
The explosion took place in the wash room of the second floor of the court complex, said police.
The Congress is likely to declare its chief ministerial face for Punjab on February 6 when former party chief Rahul Gandhi will visit the poll-bound state, party sources said.
Taking note of a plea of an Aam Aadmi Party councillor alleging wrongdoing in the polls, the court issued notices to the Chandigarh authorities, including the civic body.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
Gandhi rued that the fourth estate was showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face round-the-clock and not raising issues like unemployment or inflation.
'That would be very bad for them and suicidal for both the Gandhis and the Congress party.'
No final decision has been taken on the alliance with the Congress for the October 5 Haryana assembly polls yet, sources in Aam Aadmi Party said on Sunday. The last date to file nominations is September 12.
The Congress has proposed AAP should contest five seats while the Samajwadi Party and Left parties could contest one seat each.
On Wednesday night, Sidhu's media adviser Surinder Dalla claimed that Sidhu has been officially intimated that he could go on November 20 instead of November 18.
"The Congress has an edge this time," Sonu claimed.
India has expressed concern to the US authorities over the treatment of deportees on a flight that landed on February 5, particularly with respect to the use of shackles, especially on women. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also registered its concerns regarding the need to accommodate the religious sensitivities and food preferences of the deportees. The US side has confirmed that no women or children were restrained on the deportation flights that landed in India on 15th and 16th February, 2025.
Asserting that he is neither retired nor tired, Singh says the urge to make Punjab and the country a better place keeps him going at this age.
The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution against the Centre's Agnipath defence recruitment scheme.
The widening differences between Punjab Congress leaders -- Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu intensified with their wives joining them in the conflict.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking action against Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for his claims about his wife's recovery from stage 4 cancer, emphasizing the right to free speech. The court stated that Sidhu's claims were merely opinions and could be countered by others through free speech, not legal action. The petitioner argued that Sidhu's claims about the efficacy of certain dietary remedies could mislead the public, but the court asserted that if Sidhu's wife, a doctor herself, felt better with a specific diet, it was her prerogative. The court further suggested that the petitioner focus on issues like alcohol and cigarette consumption if truly concerned about public interest.
After a resounding victory in Punjab polls, the Aam Aadmi Party will hit the ground in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat which will go to polls in November this year.
Wooing voters for his party candidate in the Moga assemby byelection, Shiromani Akali Dal patriach and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday regaled the crowds with his wit and sarcasm mainly directed at his political opponents.
After many years, intricate caste calculations will dominate politics in Punjab.
'His success confirms that the infirm 132-year-old party can still get to its feet if it allows regional leaders to come to the fore,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
Badal's mortal remains were taken to the family's farmland, around a kilometer from his residence, on a flower-decked tractor-trolley with his son Sukhbir Singh Badal and other family members standing with folded hands as the vehicle moved past the mourners on the route.
"Making a person belonging to Dalit caste as the chief minister of Punjab is nothing but an election stunt. I have come to know through the media today that assembly elections in Punjab will be fought under a non-Dalit leader and not under Channi," Mayawati told newspersons in Lucknow
In an apparent bid to reach out to Dalit voters, Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday urged people to remember Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar while voting in next month's assembly polls and said he "worships" the leader.
Sidhu's joining may come in the next few days which are considered auspicious.
'Everything else is a sham.'
Sidhu and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi are the main contenders for the chief ministerial candidate. Both have assured Gandhi they will stand by the party's decision.
Ahead of Amarinder Singh's resignation as Punjab chief minister on Saturday, over 50 Congress legislators from Punjab had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking his replacement, highly placed party sources said.
JMM leader Hemant Soren was sworn in as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand in a grand ceremony in Ranchi, amid the presence of a galaxy of INDIA bloc leaders. This is Soren's fourth stint as chief minister. The JMM-led alliance won a majority in the recent assembly polls, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly.
The collapse of a three-storey building in Punjab's Mohali has claimed two lives, with rescuers pulling out the body of a man and a fatally injured woman from under the rubble during a multi-agency 23-hour rescue operation that concluded Sunday evening, officials said.
The Dhuri assembly seat is presently represented by Congress MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy.
In a big organisational rejig, the BJP named Union minister G Kishan Reddy, Sunil Jakhar and Babulal Marandi as party presidents in Telangana, Punjab and Jharkhand respectively.
Sources said Sidhu's resignation has not been received by the party and its leadership will take a call once it reaches them.
The Congress and AAP had fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi, while they contested separately in Punjab.
