After settling tussle in Punjab, Sonia heads to Shimla
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Sep, 2021 11:02 AM
Shimla, Sep 20 (IANS) Just hours after settling the political tussle in its ruled state Punjab, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi is in a holiday mood.
She reached Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, by air in the morning from where she headed straight to her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's cottage located amid forests of pine and cedar on the suburbs of the Himachal Pradesh capital.
Sonia Gandhi is expected to stay here for two-three days and there is no engagement to meet any party functionary during the stay, an official here told IANS.
Priyanka's five-room cottage -- with wooden frames and shingled exteriors and a sloping tiled roof -- is furnished with interiors at a height of more than 8,000 feet in Charabra, some 15 km uphill from here.
Priyanka along with her children and mother regularly visit the cottage, just close to Wildflower Hall, on a four-bigha plus agricultural plot that was purchased in 2007.
Meanwhile, India logged 27,254 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. The country also reported 219 Covid deaths in the same time span. The country presently has nearly 3.75 lakh active cases.
At a virtual Covid-19 review meeting, the Chief Minister said vaccine effectiveness is evident from the data being analysed. Special efforts were made to reach out to the government employees, and those who continue to avoid getting vaccinated will now be asked to go on leave till they get the first dose.
DGP Dinkar Gupta said with the case load decreasing, people had started being lax about wearing masks, which the Health Department should strictly enforce with the help of the police.
Additional Chief Secretary Devendra Singh and Deputy Commissioner of Karnal Nishant Yadav are participating in the meeting. From the farmers side, BKU president Gurunam Singh Chaduni and the state leadership will present their demands.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Balbir Singh Rajewal told the media here after the day-long deliberations with the political parties, except the BJP, that they had told the political parties not to hold big rallies till elections in the state are announced.
Naqvi further stated that the long-pending demand of Kartarpur Corridor has been fulfilled and the government has also decided to start the 'Gurudwara circuit train' that will take passengers on a pilgrimage across the country.
