Amarinder hosts dinner in Delhi for select Punjab MPs
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Aug, 2021 10:34 AM
New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS) A day after senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal hosted dinner for leaders cutting across party lines, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday held a similar event for party MPs and leaders from Punjab.
Those present at Amarinder Singh's dinner include former Union Minister Manish Tewari, who is part of 'G-23' bloc of party leaders who have sought wide-ranging reforms in the Congress, former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, MPs Santokh Chaudhry, and Preneet Kaur (the Chief Minister's wife), and few ministers from Punjab.
However, Rajya Sabha members Pratap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo were not present as both are considered from the opposite camp.
On the significance of the dinner, party sources say that Amarinder Singh is trying to fortify himself ahead of crucial state elections and muster support for himself.
The dinner came hours after Amarinder Singh met party interim chief Sonia Gandhi, in their first meeting after Navjot Singh Sidhu was appointed the Congress chief in Punjab despite the Chief Minister's opposition.
Their meeting lasted an hour, and sources said that the two leaders discussed the Assembly elections scheduled next year, besides talking about a minor reshuffle in the state cabinet.
Amarinder Singh's media advisor, Raveen Thukral, in a tweet, quoted the Chief Minister's statement after the meeting: "Met @INCIndia president #SoniaGandhi ji in Delhi this evening to discuss various state related issues. Spent an extremely satisfying one hour with her."
Ahead of the meeting, Amarinder Singh had detailed discussions with poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who had recently resigned as his advisor.
The Punjab Chief Minister then met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, from whom he demanded more Central forces be deployed in the state ahead of Independence Day.
Citing the escalating threat to the state's security from across the border, he asked Shah to urgently provide 25 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and anti-drone gadgets to the Border Security Force for protection from Pakistan-backed terror forces.
He also pressed the Union Home Minister for immediate repeal of the farm laws, which had caused great resentment amongst farmers from his and other states, stressing the social, economic and security implications of the prolonged farmers' agitation
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 69 on Tuesday, motley of Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar and Anil Kapoor took to social media to wish their "inspiring" leader "who walks the talk".
In a decision that may allow families to reconnect, the Indian government has reviewed the Adverse List containing as many as 314 blacklisted foreign nationals from the Sikh community and brought it down to just two.
This is a story of T-104, an eight-month-old tiger who became a homeless wanderer and has killed three men since February this year in the jungles of Ranthambore.
The incident happened at about 5-6 p.m. on Saturday. Police have arrested two Americans - a father-son duo - in this connection, Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, Eish Singhal told IANS.
In a shocking incident, an 11-year-old boy was sodomised by a 16-year-old boy inside the premises of a premier institute for the visually impaired here in Uttarakhand.
