Party also concerned about dissension in Uttarakhand and erosion of support in Goa
The assembly polls are seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, especially in the wake of demonetisation.
The entry of Kohli, a local businessman, into the BJP came a day after the prime minister rejected perceptions of a 'Modi wave' in the country. Lok Sabha elections in Punjab are due in one phase on April 30.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday agreed to set up a 10-member strategic policy group to ensure better coordination between the party and the state government and expedite implementation of various government programmes.
Some reports suggest that the Centre has empowered the BSF to conduct searches, arrest suspects and make seizures up to an area of 50 km inside the Indian territory from the international border.
Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Amarinder Singh took a dig at BJP nominee Arun Jaitley for his 'majboor' (helpless)-and-'mazboot' (strong)- leader remarks, saying strong leaders "do not go begging for constituencies to secure their secret prime ministerial ambitions".
The GST Council on Friday left taxes on COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies unchanged after the BJP- and Opposition-ruled states sparred over whether tax cut benefits will reach the common man. Congress and other Opposition ruled states have been demanding a reduction in taxes but the central government felt the move may not result in tangible gains for people. "It is one thing to rush to say - do this, it will benefit the common man. But when the technical, fitment and law committees go into the details, you realise that that could have collateral impact on many others," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. "I am not talking about the revenue generation aspect, but how many other items will get included in it as a result of which how you are going to implement it," she added.
General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others were killed in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, the Indian Air Force said.
Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress won one seat each in the bypolls to Patiala (urban) and Talwandi Sabo Assembly seats on Monday but the Aam Aadmi Party finished a poor third.
Mann, 48, is a two-time MP from Sangrur and is the party's state unit chief.
'This is evidently pure vendetta politics and may even end up helping the Akalis in the elections'
Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra has come under fire from several quarters after he was seen forcing the Vice Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) to lie on a dirty mattress at a hospital.
The balloons were first seen by a villager near his house on Friday and when he found the note written in Urdu, he handed them over to the police.
"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
Punjab has over 400,000 employees and pensioners and about 125,000 staff members in its corporations and boards.
Shattered and still tense from their harrowed experience, over 100 pilgrims reached in Chandigarh on Friday on two state owned buses from flood ravaged areas around the Sikh shrine of Hemkunt Sahib in Uttarakhand.
'Innocent until proven guilty should be the motto of the legal system in India.' 'Innocent until not proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent.'
In line with exit poll predictions, the Bharatiya Janata Party has taken an early lead in Uttar Pradesh, after one hour of counting.
'Everything else is a sham.'
In his remarks at the rallies, Pilot has cornered the Gehlot government over issues such as the repeated paper leaks and political appointments of retired bureaucrats while sidelining party workers.
Modi flagged off the first batch of pilgrims led by Akal Takhat Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib through the corridor, which was thrown open days ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 12.
Finance ministers from Congress-ruled states say they have alerted the Centre about the problems in GST for several months, but it is only now with the Gujarat assembly election around the corner that the Modi regime has started heeding these suggestions.
The two brothers, identified as Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh, of Panjgrain village of Faridkot, were arrested in connection with the first incident of sacrilege in the state in Bargari village in Faridkot
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A first information report has been registered against Khetan under Section 295 A (hurting religious sentiments).
The Centre on Friday sought a report from the Punjab government on the botched surgeries at a non-profit organisation-sponsored camp where at least 60 people lost their eyesight even as the state ordered a high-level probe into the incident in Gurdaspur.
Neither Union agriculture minister nor junior ministers were present to hear our concerns. We asked why the minister is not meeting us, why the government is playing double standards by calling us here and ministers holding virtual meetings in Punjab. There was no proper response," Darshan Pal, member of the coordination committee of 29 farmers' organisations, said after the meeting.
With the Samajwadi Party, Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging victorious in the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa respectively, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called up their leaders to congratulate them.
With its landslide victory in Punjab assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party has achieved a major milestone in its journey so far and emerged as an alternative in the national politics.
The family has refused to perform the girl's final rites till the bus owners are booked.
'It will be a mistake to imagine that Sidhu will be a permanent feature of the Congress' Punjab scene,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Anti-incumbency sentiment in Punjab puts SAD in a weak spot. But voters remain divided over AAP and Congress. Sahil Makkar reports.
A galaxy of top leaders, including Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and leaders of BJP's allies such as Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan were present with Shah.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will felicitate about a dozen Loktantra Praharis (defenders of democracy) on the occasion of the 113 birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan in the Plenary Hall of Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on October 11.
He said, Kejriwal was dreaming of becoming the CM of every state he visits.
Did Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu pay the price for locking horns with National Democratic Alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal?
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia was on Wednesday questioned for more than two hours by a special investigation team probing a drugs case registered against him.
The move came after the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government on Monday approved an amendment to the British-era Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925.
Other decisions piled up include rationalisation of GST rate slabs, correction of inverted duty on certain items and inclusion of petroleum products.
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.
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