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.
India's capital -- New Delhi -- is witnessing farmers from Punjab and Haryana sitting in at the Singhu and Tikri border points for the past five days, braving water cannons, tear gas and the biting cold. Their reason to protest - the Centre's new farm laws. Here's what it looks like.
Bhagat Singh was born on September 28, 1907 in Banga village in Lyallpur district, now Faisalabad in Pakistan Punjab.
They alleged that while the two main political parties in the state -- the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party -- have 'cheated' them, the other parties are 'ineffective'.
'I was living in a fools' paradise, thinking I could win over anyone with my good intentions.'
Farmer leaders said they will not let the "sacrifice" of farmers in this fight against the "black laws" go in vain.
Unemployment, delivery of justice in desecration cases, illegal sand mining and drug menace are likely to be key issues in the Punjab assembly elections.
Sukhdev mortgaged his house and shop to raise Rs 1,80,000 demanded by the travel agent in return for a job in Iraq. Today, his family says he is clearing bomb-shells, working 16-18 hour shifts of forced labour. Sahim Salim reports on the families of Sikh youths trapped in Iraq who have put everything at stake to bring their sons back.
Rejecting the plea for death penalty, the apex court in its order said, 'It's just a murder; that's it.'
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.
According to farmer union leaders, peasants from various places including Sangrur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Bathinda districts were headed towards Singhu and Tikri borders.
The Haryana Police closed the Ambala-Patiala highway after protesters gathered at the Shambhu border point with adjoining Punjab. The ruling Congress also held protests in Punjab, with the state unit chief Sunil Jakhar participating in one near the Shambhu border.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance released its manifesto for the February 20 Punjab polls on Saturday, promising a slew of sops for various sections, including 75 per cent reservation in all government jobs for youngsters from the state, an unemployment allowance, 35 per cent reservation for women in government jobs and massive infrastructure development.
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.
This was Channi's first meeting with Shah after becoming the chief minister of the state.
At many places, where the voters had entered booths before 6 pm and were standing in queues, they were allowed to cast their votes.
Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said government facilitates freedom fighters and gives pension but revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh are not even give the status of a martyr leave aside any financial support to their families.
The documentary captures the pain and helplessness the migrant labourers and their families are feeling, as they long to return to their villages after losing their means of livelihood in cities due to the lockdown over the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Congress is banking on decisions like reducing electricity tariff and fuel prices, taken during current CM Charanjit Singh Channi's 111-day tenure.
'The Badals have made the Akali Dal a family enterprise and undermined the Sikh faith. They have no right to call themselves Akalis. We have approached the Election Commission to register ourselves as the Akali Dal with a different nomenclature. We will impress on people's minds that we are the real Akali Dal' Sai Manish reports on the fight for supremacy over the Akali Dal.
A sackful of coins totalling Rs 1.75 lakh, certificates of fixed deposits of Rs 8.77 lakh and Rs 96,000 in bank savings accounts found at his home.
The agency has booked 23 Army personnel and civilians, including relatives of officers, for allegedly demanding bribe and facilitating bribery, they said.
In spite of his trying hard he is unable to connect not only with ordinary voters but with most party colleagues as well, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Here are some of the key farmer leaders who fronted the protests.
"On martyrdom day, I pay my respects to Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru who sacrificed their life for the nation," PM said in a statement.
Mann, 48, is a two-time MP from Sangrur and is the party's state unit chief.
Vadra was asked to join the investigation at the tax authority's office but as he cited COVID-19 restrictions, a team of officials visited his premises in Delhi's Sukhdev Vihar area.
At present, there are 18 Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
Rejecting a plea for death penalty, Delhi High Court on Friday enhanced the sentence for Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal from life imprisonment to 25 years without remission for the murder of Nitish Katara and 5 more years for destruction of evidence in the case.
Behind the movement are shock-workers functioning quietly to ensure that a seemingly spontaneous, apolitical, grassroots mobilisation sustains itself without dribbling into chaos or violence. Sai Manish lists some of them.
Kathak queen Sitara Devi died at a hospital in Mumbai on Tuesday. She was 94. Born in 1920 in Kolkata, Sitara Devi drew from the themes, poetry and choreography collected by her father in her choreographies. She also got inspired from the environment around her -- whether it is a town or a village.
Farmers said the government should have formed a committee of farmers and others before the laws were enacted by Parliament.
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said business over hunger will not be allowed in the country and once again demanded a law on minimum support price (MSP) for crops along with the repeal of new contentious agri-marketing laws.
Eleven rounds of talks have been held over the contentious farm laws but the impasse continues as the farmer unions remain firm on their demands -- the repeal of the three laws and legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price.
Tractors carried the flags of the unions, some sported the tricolour, and also posters with slogans of 'Kisan Ekta Zindabad', 'No Farmer, No Food' and 'Kaale Kanoon Radd Karo'.
Namdhari has been expelled from the party following his arrest in connection with the Chattarpur farmhouse shootout in which controversial liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep were killed, state BJP chief Bishan Singh Chufal said.
The protesting students clashed with cops after were they stopped at the varsity gate and prevented from carrying out their march.
Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar, who is a member of Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, said on Sunday that farmers have waterproof tents but they cannot protect them from biting cold and waterlogging.
The minister said the lyrics of the song did not make any mention of the large number of freedom fighters who launched an armed struggle to free the country.
Sacked Uttarakhand minority panel chief Sukhdev Singh Namdhari has been booked on charges of murder in liquor baron Ponty Chadha's shootout case, the Delhi police told a court on Thursday, which extended the police custody of the politico by three more days.
