Congress still confronted by a divided house in Punjab
Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Nov, 2021 12:28 PM
New Delhi, Nov 26 (IANS) The Punjab problem of the Congress is far from over as state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu is against his own government on various issues and now the party is concerned about non-Sikh votes in the state.
With former Punjab President Sunil Jakhar being upset about being denied the Chief Minister's post, now the party is reaching out to these leaders. Rana KP, speaker of the Punjab Assembly, recently met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. Party in-charge of the state Harish Chaudhary has reached out to Jakhar but sources say he was unable to pacify him and it is likely that Sonia Gandhi may have to intervene in the state's issues. Sources close to Sunil Jakhar confirmed the meeting on Tuesday evening.
However, the sources said he did not have any issue with the Punjab in-charge Harish Chaudhary. If there is any issue, it must be between Sidhu and Channi about who will be the CM after the state elections.
Jakhar was once considered the top choice for Chief Minister but lost the race in the last lap when the issue of a Sikh as Chief Minister was raked up by senior leader Ambika Soni.
The Congress is also wary of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who may be eyeing the rebels in the party. Amarinder on Friday attacked Harish Chaudhary over allegations the latter made against him. Amarinder Singh said in a statement that although he owed no explanation to "an out of job legislator who has been sacked as a minister in Rajasthan for being named as an accused in the murder case of Kamlesh Prajapat, in Barmer, and inquiry for which has been handed over to the CBI by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot", he still wanted to set the record straight.
The Congress is now fighting a dual battle in the state as after Amarinder Singh's exit, a still unhappy Sidhu is continuously questioning his own government and taking credit on behalf of the government, thus escalating the infighting in the state apparatus.
Sidhu has been courting controversy often and recently he referred to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan as his 'elder brother' -- a repeat of 2018 when he visited Pakistan for the swearing-in of the latter and hugged the Pakistan army chief there.
Senior Superintendent of Police Swapan Sharma told the media that Babbi was in touch with the members of the Ajaib Khan gang lodged in a Sangrur jail with whom he had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate rival gangsters Mani Sheron and Feteh Nagri.
Prabhjot Singh Katri was found murdered early on Sunday morning near his residence in the city of Truro in Nova Scotia. The victim came to Canada from India in 2017 for higher studies. After finishing his studies, he was on a work visa and was driving a cab to earn his livelihood.
Demanding a law to ensure cost based remunerative price for farmers' produce, the RSS affiliate Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) will hold nationwide demonstrations on Wednesday (September 8). The BKS said that the government should give remunerative price to farmers or explain that their demand is wrong.
The joint call to action comes from non-attainment cities like Ludhiana, Amritsar, Khanna, Patiala and others reeling under poor air quality, and not just during winters.
In his address in the Assembly's special session to mark the commemoration of 400th Prakash Purb of Guru Tegh Bahadur, he stressed that the Sikh faith is distinguished by the tradition of martyrdom to uphold principles and righteousness given to "us by our great Gurus".
A total of 40.8 per cent people have shown satisfaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the five states going to the polls next year, while 41.3 per cent showed dissatisfaction with him, as per the ABP-CVOTER-IANS BATTLE FOR THE STATES - WAVE 1.
