'If you put your own party into the witness box, like what Sidhu did, and treat them as wrongdoers, then how will the people of Punjab trust the party?'
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has unfurled a 'new anti-mafia era in Punjab' and hoped he would rise to the expectations of the people.
Among these are Labh Singh Ugoke, who defeated former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi in the Bhadaur assembly segment by a margin of 37,558 votes, and Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, who beat Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal in his traditional Lambi seat by 11,396 votes.
Amarinder Singh on Monday held the Gandhis totally responsible for the rout of the Congress in the assembly polls, claiming that the party was "comfortably placed" in Punjab before he was unseated as chief minister.
Five legislators, who are contesting the forthcoming assembly polls, have serious criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery etc pending against them. This information has been revealed by the Punjab Election Watch which, along with the Association for Democratic Reforms, has assessed the financial and other details of the members of legislative assembly seeking re-election in Punjab.
Meanwhile, Navjot Singh Sidhu again launched an attack on the former CM.
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan is the final resting place of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanakji.
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "troubled" with only 15 minutes of wait whereas farmers protested against the farm laws for a year.
Replying to a question on the Enforcement Directorate raids at many places including at the premises of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew, Sidhu slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre over the raids and said the ED took action after nearly four years of the registration of the case.
About 20 Punjab Congress leaders met in Ludhiana on Tuesday, with some of them batting for a key role for Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former state party unit chief who was among the participants.
Expressing concerns over another round of crisis in the Punjab unit of Congress, Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari said that he is 'extremely distressed' after Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation as party's state unit chief and claimed that the only people who are happy with what is going on in the border state is the 'deep state of Pakistan.'
The meeting comes ahead of the party's Punjab unit revamp and amid reports that Sidhu may get a key role in the organisation.
'Punjab requires a CM who has solutions to Punjab's challenges, capacity to take tough decisions. Punjab needs serious people whose politics is not Social Engineering, Entertainment, Freebies and not regime favourites rejected by people in successive elections,' Tewari said on Twitter.
Sources said Sidhu's resignation has not been received by the party and its leadership will take a call once it reaches them.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, 48, will tie the nuptial knot in Chandigarh on Thursday, party leaders confirmed.
A resolution to this effect was passed unanimously in a meeting of the CLP in Chandigarh.
Sidhu further said that electing a good chief minister is only in the hands of the voters of Punjab.
He further said the 'sacrifice of farmers has paid dividends'.
Sidhu made the sharp retort amid speculation that the former cricketer is himself eyeing the top post if the Congress wins next month's assembly polls.
According to the counsel, Sidhu cannot consume wheat, sugar, 'maida' and some other food items. After the board of doctors carry out a medical examination, a report will be submitted in the court of chief judicial magistrate, he said.
Pardeep Singh was shot in his dairy shop at around 7 am in Kotkapura in Faridkot, the police said, adding that his security man and another person sustained bullet injuries in the incident.
He also lashed out at veteran Congress leader Ambika Soni for her statement on the "repercussions of having a Hindu chief minister in Punjab".
The meeting assumes significance as the party high command has been trying to resolve the internal rift in the Punjab unit of the Congress and there is talk of its revamp, with just months to go for the assembly polls.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has been at loggerheads with the chief minister, attacking him on issues like the alleged delay in the completion of a probe into the 2015 desecration of Sikh texts and the subsequent police firing on protesters.
Gandhi was abroad when the killing took place and returned over the weekend.
Counting for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur was held on Thursday. Here's how the big names fared.
Taking on his own party's government, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday asked people whether they were getting cable TV connection and sand at the cheap rates announced recently.
The former Punjab Congress chief had been upset with the party for serving him a show-cause notice.
Sukhbir Badal also announced the candidature of his 94-year-old father and five-time state Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the Lambi assembly seat.
Any decision taken by Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be acceptable to all, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Saturday as talk of Navjot Singh Sidhu being appointed chief of the party's state unit despite his oft-stated reservations gathered force.
Last month, the Channi government replaced the state's advocate general A P S Deol after strong opposition from Sidhu.
Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal (94) became the country's oldest candidate to fight elections as he filed his nomination papers from Lambi on Monday.
The incident took place outside a temple in the city where Suri and some other leaders of the party were holding a protest, they said.
Without naming any party, Sidhu made the remark ahead of the announcement of the Congress' chief ministerial face by the party's former president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Ludhiana for the February 20 Punjab assembly polls.
After dancing the Bhangra with college kids, telling his security detail to vamoose so he could schmooze with the Janata and clambering up an electricity poll to fix erratic power supply, Charanjit Singh Channi, clearly a man of the people, donned a new avatar on Sunday, October 31, 2021.
Sidhu had replaced Sunil Jhakhar as PCC chief in July this year.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and senior leader Sunil Jakhar met with former party president Rahul Gandhi at his Delhi residence on Wednesday.
Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann too questioned separately Gandhi's description of Channi as belonging to 'gareeb ghar', asking 'from which angle, is he poor'.
Voting for 117 assembly seats in Punjab and 59 assembly constituencies spread across 16 districts of Uttar Pradesh were held on Sunday.
The 58-year-old cricketer-turned-politician will perform the job from his barrack only because of security reasons, a jail official said.
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