While the Gandhi siblings have had their way with Amarinder Singh's ouster, the future of the party under the temperamental Navjot Sidhu's leadership is uncertain, reports Sai Manish.
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 Centre and state need to take a unified approach and take concerted action before this matter assumes menacing proportions because unemployment, the drug trade and the levels of frustration among the youth make them vulnerable to any maverick who promises something better.'
Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took his fight against the contentious land acquisition bill to Punjab as he travelled by train today to visit the National Democratic Alliance-ruled state and see the condition of farmers with his own eyes.
Former Congress MLA from Barnala, Kewal Dhillon, and former Shiormani Akali Dal MLAs Sarup Chand Singla and Mohinder Kaur Josh also joined the BJP.
The President's assent to these bills comes amid the Opposition criticising the manner in which they were passed in Parliament.
Rakesh Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from the hinterlands of Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, welcomed the support from international artistes and activists, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, but acknowledged he does not know them.
MPs from 10 Opposition parties on Thursday wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla saying that the situation at Ghazipur border was like that of India-Pakistan border and condition of farmers resembles prisoners in jail.
From the point of view of qualification, Murmu is probably educationally the least qualified among India's recent Presidents. But then, with the BJP in command, she will be required to do little but sign on the dotted line.
The Lok Sabha witnessed unruly scenes during Question Hour today as Congress and Telugu Desam Party members raised the Telangana issue and DMK members of Parliament protested holding of Commonwealth Summit in Sri Lanka.
There will be no second term for President Kovind and no elevation for Vice President Naidu.
The two-time MP was taking part in the Rahul Gandhi-led march in Phillaur in Jalandhar where he fainted, said senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who was also marching in the yatra.
The Congress is planning to call a meeting of Opposition parties in May. It is possible to keep all possibilities open in case Karnataka yields a hung House, leading to a recalibrated Opposition.
While I&B Minister Manish Tewari seems desperate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, the Congress leadership is having a tough time choosing the right candidates. Anita Katyal reports
Navjot Singh Sidhu forms a new party called the 'Awaaz-e-Punjab' and ties up with the Pargat, Bains brothers.
Sidhu was in Patiala to take part in a protest against inflation when the Supreme Court verdict came in.
Pawar said Nitish took the decision anticipating the crisis the BJP was planning to bring on.
Expressing her anguish over the pain of farmers, Badal, leader of the ruling BJP's erstwhile ally, said, "It is strange that farmers are spending nights in open during the chilling winters and even then their demands are falling on deaf ears."
Congress leader and former union minister Preneet Kaur on Monday won the Patiala assembly seat defeating her nearest Shiromani Akali Dal rival Bhagwan Dass Juneja.
The Aam Aadmi Party alleged that the chief minister was manhandled during the "pre-planned" protest.
Ahead of the visit of an all-party delegation to Jammu and Kashmir, political parties on Saturday pitched for holding dialogue with "all stakeholders", including Hurriyat, to douse the unrest and banning the use of pellet guns by security forces.
Modi should call an emergency Parliament session and repeal these acts, said the SAD chief, adding that people have the final say in a democracy.
Much before Rashtrapati Bhavan confirmed the new ministers' portfolios, we had said who will get what in Narendra Modi's Union council of ministers!
Polling will be held in all 13 seats in Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
The minister also hoped that a resolution should be reached before the year ends and asserted that the Modi government is committed to address all genuine concerns of the farming community.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at pre-election promises to reduce power and water bills, saying he wondered how such promises could be made in states which were dependent on electricity from outside.
SAD dubbed "Kejriwal's meeting" as "unconstitutional and unacceptable".
'When you come through the hassles and struggles of business life, your mind is wired differently.' 'You are more connected to reality,' Akali Dal MP Naresh Gujral tells Rahul Jacob and Archis Mohan
Punjab has around 19.7 million voters, of whom 53% are below the age of 40 years.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the party had always given paramount important to the pride of its party and Maharashtra and never sold its self respect for the sake of power.
In Punjab, more than 9,000 people were evacuated in Patiala, Rupnagar, Moga, Ludhiana, Mohali, SBS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts, officials said on Tuesday.
Besides the SAD, the SP, the AIADMK and the TRS supported the idea; while the AAP, the TDP, the JD-S, the AIFB, the DMK, the TMC, the GFP and Left parties opposed it.
The apex court also said it will consider whether the matter should be put before a five-judge bench
The Shiromani Akali Dal chief said the passage of the Bills marks a 'sad day' for the 'country's millions and for democracy'.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said he aspired to become the CM of the state and also took a jibe at his 83-year-old uncle asking when will the Maratha strongman retire from active politics, as he appeared to be ahead in the numbers game for control of the Nationalist Congress Party after its vertical split.
The prime minister addressed a gathering at Hussainiwala.
The Aam Aadmi Party has nominated former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Lovely Professional University founder Ashok Mittal, AAP MLA Raghav Chadha, IIT Delhi faculty Sandeep Pathak and industrialist Sanjeev Arora for the March 31 Rajya Sabha polls.
It was also the shortest speech by Sitharaman, who had delivered the longest speech last year. Her first Budget speech in July 2019 went on for around 137 minutes and in 2020, it went on for more than 160 minutes and was cut short after she felt unwell.
