As many as 22 Patiala corporators and Congress leaders joined former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's new party Punjab Lok Congress at a party event on Friday ahead of the assembly elections next year.
Even as the assembly elections in Punjab are around the corner, Congress MP Preneet Kaur, wife of former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, continues to stay away from poll campaigning in Patiala.
Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sushil Rinku on Saturday won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election, defeating his nearest rival and Congress nominee Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by a margin of 58,691 votes.
Singh, who had dropped Sidhu from the Punjab government during his tenure as the state's chief minister, never had smooth relations with the cricketer-turned-politician and was against appointing him as the Punjab unit chief of the Congress.
'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?'
Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Friday hit out at the Congress for blaming the anti-incumbency of his four-and-half-years tenure for the poor show in assembly polls, saying the party's leadership will never learn.
Amarinder Singh on Monday held the Gandhis totally responsible for the rout of the Congress in the assembly polls, claiming that the party was "comfortably placed" in Punjab before he was unseated as chief minister.
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The BJP and Congress have called out the 'Delhi model' as a hoax, built on sustained propaganda when the ground reality is different.
Shekhawat, the BJP's poll in-charge for Punjab, said to finalise the seat sharing agreement, a joint committee will be formed comprising two leaders from each party.
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.
'The BJP will not win a single seat in Punjab.'
Punjab's 117 assembly seats are going to be a keenly-watched contest with the Congress, the AAP, the SAD-BSP alliance, and the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) battling to form the government in the state, with a probable entry of farmers' front in the form of Sanyukt Samaj Morcha.
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).
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.
Gandhi is seeking responses from Congress leaders and workers through the party's Shakti app, sources said. The opinion of common people on the issue will also be sought in a day or two.
The Aam Aadmi Party's MP and lone Lok Sabha member Sushil Kumar Rinku joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday along with party MLA Sheetal Angural, dealing a blow to the party already facing a crisis following the arrest of its leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Dhuri assembly seat is presently represented by Congress MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 10 ministers at Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh.
The BJP stood fourth in (the 2022) Punjab (assembly elections) after AAP, Shriomani Akali Dal and Congress. The question is why did Rinku join the BJP. His tenure as Lok Sabha MP has also ended. The BJP will also come fourth in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha polls
'The fight is between the Congress and Akali Dal.'
Amarinder Singh failed spectacularly in these assembly elections -- his new party failed to open its account, his ally BJP fell flat and he failed to even win his own constituency.
The incumbent Congress could win only 18 seats, with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi losing both seats he contested -- Chamkaur Sahib as well as Bhadaur.
'One needs to understand what kind of means the BJP use to bring other party leaders in their party.' 'They are unscrupulous politicians and money plays an important role.'
An Indian delegation led by the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad will tour key European capitals to expose Pakistan's role in cross-border terrorism and State-sponsored extremism.
The 62-year-old former deputy chief minister was first elected the party president in 2008. His re-election at the outfit's general delegate session in Amritsar comes barely four months after he quit after he was declared 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht for "mistakes" committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its government from 2007 to 2017.
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.
The game intensified after Congress fielded Channi from a second seat and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia chose to take on Sidhu from the Amritsar East seat.
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 delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
At many places, where the voters had entered booths before 6 pm and were standing in queues, they were allowed to cast their votes.
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.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi visited Pakistan on an invitation from its spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence, and that he worked closely with the establishment of the neighbouring nation.
The BJP knows how to play with people's lives and bodies, former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said.
Convert the Haryana result into a blessing in disguise; make the calamity into an opportunity. Maharashtra was always the big ticket game in town; MVA must win it. The Congress should shift headquarters to Mumbai for the entire month. Show urgency and a hunger to win, asserts Sanjay Jha.
Aam Aadmi Party calls Bhagwant Mann its people's choice for CM candidate in Punjab. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com traces what makes Mann so indispensable for his party.
However, the scheme will be optional for the eligible beneficiaries, Mann said in a video message.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand. The bypolls, however, will not have any direct impact on the respective legislative assemblies. The results will be declared on November 23. In Uttar Pradesh, polling will be held in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki. Ninety candidates are in the fray in these seats with the maximum of 14 in Ghaziabad. This will be the first electoral test of the INDIA bloc as well as the NDA in the politically-crucial state after the Lok Sabha elections. In Punjab, bypolls will be held in four assembly seats - Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala. The bypolls were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. Polling will also be held for the Palakkad seat in Kerala and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.
The Congress is banking on decisions like reducing electricity tariff and fuel prices, taken during current CM Charanjit Singh Channi's 111-day tenure.
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