New Delhi/Chandigarh, Nov 10 (IANS) Amid crisis, the Congress in poll-bound Punjab is all set to welcome an MLA from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who has resigned from the party.
AAP is one of the main challengers of the Congress in the state.
After a late night meeting on Tuesday with Congress leaders Harish Chaudhary and Navjot Singh Sidhu, AAP MLA from Bathinda Rural Rupinder Kaur Ruby quit the party and tweeted: "Mr.@ArvindKejriwal ji Convener, AAP & @BhagwantMann ji this is hereby inform u that I am resigning with immediate effect from the membership of Aam Aadmi Party. Please accept my resignation. Thx Rupinder Kaur Ruby.(MLA Bti.rural)"
The Congress, which is reeling under infighting between factions, got a slight relief on Tuesday after the Congress, giving in to Sidhu's pressure, accepted the resignation of Advocate General A.P.S. Deol -- a decision that is being seen in political circles as lessening the "friction" between Chief Minister Charanjit Channi and Congress state chief Navjot Sidhu.
Sidhu has been demanding the replacement of Deol, who had represented former Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini in cases related to the 2015 sacrilege and subsequent police firing on protesters.
Earlier, Sidhu had tweeted: "Technically, any lawyer can become AG and any IPS officer can become DG but if we talk about morals and ethics of government, as we promised to the people of Punjab that we will give justice to them in sacrilege cases."
Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday hailed the victory of his party in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections as "a forceful referendum of the Khalsa Panth in favour of the panthic identity and religious commitment of the party".
Ranjit Singh, a former follower of Ram Rahim, was shot dead by four assailants on July 10, 2002, in Kurukshetra after he allegedly "raised his voice" against the self-styled godman, who is currently lodged at the high-security Sunaria jail in Rohtak, 250 kms from state capital Chandigarh.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda on Tuesday asked the Congress national leadership to clarify their stand on whether they support the remarks on Kashmir and Pakistan made by party leaders in Punjab. Nadda said that the silence of the Congress leadership will be seen as being implicit to such objectionable remarks.
The farmers union leaders had earlier pointed out that Punjab had failed to hike sugarcane SAP in proportion to Haryana over this period, causing fiscal losses to them.
The Punjab Congress leaders who have distanced themselves from the so-called festering revolt in the party are: Kuldeep Vaid, Dalvir Singh Goldie, Santokh Singh, Angad Singh, Raja Warring and Gurkirat Singh Kotli, all MLAs, and Bhalaipur Ajit Singh Mofar, a former MLA.
Gurbachan Singh (55) was a relieved man after he welcomed his three sons at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here. They were among the 78 Afghan- Indians who were evacuated from Kabul to Tajikistan on Monday and to Delhi on Tuesday afternoon.
