'People belonging to all religions reside in our country and this is our strength that they stay together as a team. Why should you exclude (them)?'
Speaking at an event organised to remember former Prime Minister IK Gujral on his 100th birth anniversary, Singh said, "When the sad event of 1984 took place, Gujral ji that very evening went to the then Home Minister Narsimha Rao and said to him that the situation is so grim that it is necessary for the government to call the army at the earliest. If that advice would have been heeded perhaps the massacre that took place in 1984 could have been avoided."
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.
A handwritten note in Punjabi, purportedly left behind by the deceased, says he was unable to bear the "pain of farmers".
Asserting that "the BJP first set Hindus against Muslims", Badal said the party has "become the most powerful divisive force", out to "replay its evil game in Punjab".
Fifteen people were injured on Wednesday as Sikh activists protesting against the alleged desecration of their holy book clashed with cops.
The Nehru-Gandhi scion attacked the Akalis for allegedly plundering Punjab and appealed people to vote for the Congress in the February 4 polls "to transform Punjab".
A case against Majithia under various sections of the NDPS Act was registered on the basis of a 2018 status report of probe into the drug racket in the state.
India and Pakistan share a 3,323 km-long border, including the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir. But the only 2289.66km of it is properly demarcated as the international border.
The game intensified after Congress fielded Channi from a second seat and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia chose to take on Sidhu from the Amritsar East seat.
Here are some of the key farmer leaders who fronted the protests.
A tragic train accident in Amritsar on Friday took a political turn with the Opposition accusing the state's Congress government for lapses in allowing celebrations near railway tracks.
The widening differences between Punjab Congress leaders -- Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu intensified with their wives joining them in the conflict.
The decision of its two oldest allies to walk out means that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also president of the Janata Dal-United, is now the oldest BJP ally besides being the most powerful.
The Shiromani Akali Dal chief said the passage of the Bills marks a 'sad day' for the 'country's millions and for democracy'.
Some reports suggest that the Centre has empowered the BSF to conduct searches, arrest suspects and make seizures up to an area of 50 km inside the Indian territory from the international border.
Revenge he will exact from a party he had led with great aplomb until the Gandhi siblings stepped in and, in order to show who was the boss, flung him aside, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as the first chief minister of new Andhra Pradesh at a function at Nagarjuna Nagar, 18 kms from Vijaywada on Sunday.
Reports suggested that hundreds of angry residents at Nankana Sahib pelted the Sikh pilgrims with stones on Friday.
Under flak from the opposition for 'diverting' Covid vaccines to private hospitals to make a profit, the Punjab government on Friday asked them to return all stock meant for the 18-44 age group.
High Court on Thursday directed the state government to submit a report on the action taken against the bus staff in Moga molestation case.
General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others were killed in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, the Indian Air Force said.
Farmer outfits on Friday started mobilising more batches of peasants from Haryana and Punjab to head towards Delhi's borders to join the ongoing agitation against agri laws, even as political parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Indian National Lok Dal threw their weight behind them.
Fans in Mohali witnessed a spectacle as Virat Kohli pushed the bar a notch higher and took India across the finish line against Australia, and into the World T20 semi-final on Sunday.
As the Punjab government sought release of the state's prisoners, the union home ministry on Thursday indicated that legal opinion could be taken in select cases such as old people and those having completed 20 years in prison but not those convicted in serious charges.
A Bharatiya Janata Party MLA in Punjab was allegedly thrashed and his clothes torn by a group of farmers at Malout in Muktsar district on Saturday, police said.
Punjab, which faced two terror attacks in six months, on Sunday announced deployment of a commando battalion and a special SWAT team in Pathankot as a "second line of defence" and also sought deployment of more Border Security Force troops along the state's border with Pakistan.
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.
Mann, who is often criticised by political opponents for "excessive drinking," hopes to shun liquor for the rest of his life.
Having twice betrayed the BJP -- and Arvind Kejriwal determined not to admit in AAP anyone who could question his authority -- Sidhu seems to have reached a dead-end in his political career, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
59 constituencies across 7 states and one Union Territory will go to polls in the seventh phase on May 19.
Police personnel in adequate strength were deployed across the state to maintain law and order, officials said.
On Sunday, Rajya Sabha passed the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.
The government is learnt to have decided not to go ahead with the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre after facing strong opposition from non-Congress chief ministers.
The shoe flung from the opposition benches fell just short of where Majithia was seated. Protesting Congress MLAs also threw documents including pages from some CAG reports at the speaker, who had to be protected by House staff.
Neither Union agriculture minister nor junior ministers were present to hear our concerns. We asked why the minister is not meeting us, why the government is playing double standards by calling us here and ministers holding virtual meetings in Punjab. There was no proper response," Darshan Pal, member of the coordination committee of 29 farmers' organisations, said after the meeting.
Sibal said the BJP always tries to gain a foothold in states where its presence is limited and afterwards "dumps" its allies.
Singh, who also served as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, joined the SAD on Saturday evening in the presence of party president and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The Punjab CM said he was overwhelmed at receiving the Padma Vibhushan.
Manohar Lal Khattar took oath as Haryana chief minister for the second time on Sunday and will lead the Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janta Party coalition government in the state. JJP leader Dushyant Chautala took oath as the deputy chief minister.
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