Shiromani Akali Dal-Amritsar's Simranjit Singh Mann on Sunday won the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat after defeating his nearest rival, Aam Aadmi Party's Gurmail Singh, by a margin of 5,822 votes.
A meeting of the Punjab Congress Legislative Party, which was slated for 11 am on Sunday, has been deferred, with party sources saying that a consensus is yet to be made on the name of the new CLP leader.
Ansari was taken to the Rani Durgavati Medical College in Banda from the district jail after his health deteriorated.
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
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.
AAP is working on its new strategy to build a strong organisational set-up with leaders from all sections of society, reports Nitin Kumar.
A look at licensed distilleries shows that many have connections with politicians and influential business families. Among politicians, a minister owns a distillery. Two others are owned by ex-Congressman Venod Sharma and ex-Akali MLA Deep Malhotra.
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.
A day after Ansari's burial, police constable Faiyaz Khan, posted at a police station in Lucknow, allegedly made certain comments in favour of the gangster-politician on his WhatsApp status and also raised doubts over his death.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
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.
It will be for the first time in three decades that the Badal family will have no representation in the 117-member Punjab assembly.
The body was brought to the family's ancestral burial ground, about half a km from their residence, where a grave was dug on Friday near that of Mukhtar Ansari's parents.
The four ministers -- Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Charanjit Singh Channi -- and around two dozen legislators met in Chandigarh at the residence of Bajwa on Tuesday.
After many years, intricate caste calculations will dominate politics in Punjab.
After spending over two years in a Punjab prison, gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was brought back to Banda jail early on Wednesday morning.
The announcement was made in advertisements published by the state's information and public relations department in various newspapers on Saturday.
'People of my constituency told me they will continue loving me, but will not vote for me if I am with the BJP.'
'But unlike Punjab, the rebels have an alternative -- the BJP'
Sidhu and Amarinder Singh has been at loggerheads for the past some time, with the Amritsar (East) MLA recently attacking the CM over the desecration cases.
'The Akali government is not responsible for the Punjab power crisis as Mr Sidhu is saying.'
Gearing up for the upcoming state assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Partyon Wednesday named its organisational spearheads for the elections, putting Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Bhupender Yadav in charge for the contest in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur respectively.
Two former MLAs Neeraj Basoya and Nasseb Singh resigned from the primary membership of the party putting the party's Lok Sabha preparations in doubt.
His remarks came a day after AAP Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann took a dig at the cricketer-turned-politician and asked him to tweet about the 'funds' allegedly accepted by the ruling Congress from private power companies in the state.
The Congress high command has so far maintained that the party will fight the February 20 elections to the 117-member assembly under a "collective leadership"
There is no threat to the Amarinder Singh-led government in Punjab and the party's victory prospects for the upcoming assembly elections, Rawat said.
Amid cross-voting, BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan on Tuesday won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, defeating ruling Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi, officials said.
Addressing a public meeting in Badhni Kalan in Punjab's Moga district, Gandhi asserted that the contentious Acts would be revoked if the Congress was voted to power.
'The honourable prime minister virtually handpicked me for the Amritsar East seat.' 'Amit Shahji announced that if I am elected, the whole of Punjab will be drugs free.'
Navjot Singh Sidhu quit as the Punjab PCC chief, triggering other resignations and plunging the party into a fresh crisis just months ahead of the assembly elections.
The rebel leader has been a vocal critic of AAP leadership since he was removed as leader of opposition in Punjab assembly in July last year.
The suspension of Bijaswan MLA came after Kejriwal returned to Delhi wrapping up his four-day visit to poll-bound Punjab.
Polling was held for over hundred civic bodies in Punjab on Sunday amid stray incidents of skirmishes at some places.
The explosion took place in the wash room of the second floor of the court complex, said police.
The political circle in the state was abuzz with speculation that the legislators have gone to express their support to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Punjab government to hand over the custody of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who is lodged in Rupnagar jail there, to Uttar Pradesh Police.
If Meena resigns, it is likely to put pressure on other ministers whose areas also saw poor performance in the general elections.
Kejriwal was issued the ED summons last week for the fourth time after he skipped summons thrice earlier.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday appointed election in-charges and co-in-charges for 23 states and Union territories in view of the Lok Sabha polls this year.
The ruling Congress on Wednesday swept the urban body polls in Punjab, winning six municipal corporations, emerging as the largest party in the seventh and bagging most of the 109 municipal council and nagar panchayats.
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