The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
The Badals and Cheema had moved the top court challenging the August 2021 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court refusing to quash the summons against them by additional chief judicial magistrate, Hoshiarpur in a private complaint filed by Social activist Balwant Singh Khera on the charges of forgery, cheating and concealing facts.
It was not that differences did not crop up over other issues between the two erstwhile allies, but Parkash Singh Badal always ensured that these were amicably resolved and the ties remained intact.
The Punjab police arrested Jasvir Singh after the incident and booked him for hurting religious sentiments and attempt to murder.
Close to half of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats are bracing for multi-cornered fight this time, making the contest way more interesting and intense than it was in the 2019 elections.
All political parties put together received more than Rs 12,000 crore till last fiscal since the introduction of the now-annulled electoral bond scheme in 2018, of which the ruling BJP got nearly 55 per cent or Rs 6,565 crore, according to the data available with Election Commission and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded two Congress turncoats and its former Union minister Vijay Sampla for next month's Punjab assembly polls as it released its second list of 27 candidates on Thursday.
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
Several candidates, including Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the BJP's Amritsar candidate, are promising resumption of India-Pakistan trade via the Attari-Wagah land route.
He didn't have dinner as he had already taken his meal, they said, adding that the former state Congress chief is prisoner number 1,37,683.
For Sikhs, they say, honour is the bottom line; and whatever the state of the SAD's political fortunes today, arrogance will not be helpful in the negotiation.
Olympic medallist boxer Vijender Singh, who joined the farmers' agitation at the Haryana-Delhi border on Sunday, said he will return his Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award if the Centre's new farm laws are not withdrawn.
Shiv Sena will support National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, party president Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday.
'Go around and ask what Amritpal has done for the village and nearby areas.'
The Shiromani Akali Dal also issued a two-day ultimatum to her to stop "anti-party" activities, failing which, it said, strict disciplinary action would be taken against her.
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 party has fielded Dr Charanjit Singh from Sri Chamkaur Sahib against Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Several legislators in states on Monday said they have cross-voted in favour of National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu by not following their respective party lines in the presidential election.
Bharti accused the media of distorting her statement, attributing it to the BJP's agenda.
Sunita Kejriwal and daughter Harshita Kejriwal will seek votes for chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann in the Dhuri assembly seat.
Shiromani Akali Dal-Amritsar's Simranjit Singh Mann on Sunday won the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat after defeating his nearest rival, Aam Aadmi Party's Gurmail Singh, by a margin of 5,822 votes.
The Aam Aadmi Party has sought the setting aside of Tuesday's election, alleging tampering of ballot papers, and fresh elections under the supervision of a retired high court judge.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
Ten ministers were inducted into the Mann-led cabinet on Saturday.
AAP has nominated former cricketer Harbhajan Singh as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Punjab
Parliament's Budget session has been a washout since the beginning of its second part on March 13, with the BJP demanding an apology from Gandhi.
The Congress is likely to declare its chief ministerial face for Punjab on February 6 when former party chief Rahul Gandhi will visit the poll-bound state, party sources said.
The Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday announced sweeping organisational reforms, saying it will now follow the one family, one ticket principle at elections and ensure that half of its contestants are below 50.
Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the Maharashtra government should hold a dialogue with local villagers who are opposing a refinery project in the coastal Ratnagiri district.
The additional director general of police (security), however, said in an order on Friday that the security personnel were 'being withdrawn on a purely temporary basis in connection with an emergent law and order duty'.
Hundreds of Sikh youths, led by the Dal Khalsa, were carrying Khalistani flags and photographs of damaged Akal Takht.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's yatra on Sunday met a hostile reception in Punjab, with protesters hurling eggs at his 'rath' and waving black flags, briefly disrupting his convoy's journey in the state, where the party is in power along with Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal).
Sirsa has been a prominent face of the Akali Dal in the national capital and was a strong supporter of the farmers' protests against the three contentious farm laws. He said he will continue to work for Sikh causes.
In the 35-member municipal House, the BJP has 17 councillors. The number of BJP's strength increased from 14 to 17 after three Aam Aadmi Party councillors switched over to it on February 19. The AAP has 10 members while the Congress has seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday declared that the Shiromani Akali Dal would support the National Democratic Alliance's decision on the Presidential candidate. In a statement, he said that as a key ally of the NDA, the Shiromani Akali Dal was committed to toe the line of action, as decided by the NDA.
Often credited with his party's victory in the 2012 assembly polls, now 59, he became the youngest chief of the Shiromani Akali Dal, when he was elevated to the post in 2008.
Notably, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu had urged Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the state to announce the chief ministerial face for the polls, following which Gandhi had said that the decision in this regard would be taken by the party workers.
Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Friday tested positive for coronavirus.
Barring 2004 and 2009 when Navjot Singh Sidhu won the Amritsar seat as a BJP MP and 1998 when Daya Singh Sodhi from BJP was elected as the MP, it has essentially a Congress bastion.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
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