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.
Fifteen persons, including five women, were killed and 40 others were injured when a private bus rammed into a tree near Dhariwal in Gurdaspur district on Tuesday, police said. The bus was coming to Batala from Gurdaspur when it rammed against a tree near Bidhipur village railway crossing near Dhariwal on Tuesday evening.
Slogans of 'Shaheed Amar Rahe' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' rent the air as military vehicles carrying the mortal remains of the three soldiers reached their respective villages. Anti-Pakistan slogans were also raised.
The incident took place when the driver, Pardip Saini, 40, was on his way to Pathankot after dropping a passenger in Amritsar via Gurdaspur bypass late on Saturday night.
Residents near the border have been asked to switch off lights at night. Farmers whose agriculture land is beyond the fencing wire were ordered not to visit their fields.
'When you start delving deeper into these disappearances, you have to face the question: Was it a policy at the State level?' 'It surely couldn't have been random officers acting on their own.' 'Was it planned? What does it mean if the State allows its police to become lawless and act with impunity?' 'Perhaps the NHRC, for the 21 years that it has been seized of the matter, avoided these questions.'
Two persons were injured in a clash which took place between AAP and Congress workers at Sultanpur village in Sangrur district.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal unveiled the party's manifesto for the youth. The party, which is aiming to capture power in the state, will come out with separate manifestos for different sections of society.
The assembly polls are seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, especially in the wake of demonetisation.
The high-voltage campaign for the February 4 assembly elections in Punjab came to an end on Thursday evening following hectic campaigning by various political parties.