Chandigarh, March 16 (IANS) Days after facing humiliating defeat in Punjab from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday resigned from the post.
In a one-line resignation to party President Sonia Gandhi, Sidhu wrote, "I hereby resign as President (PPCC)."
The AAP came to power by sweeping the Assembly polls with a three-fourths majority as heavyweights fall by wayside.
A day earlier, Sonia Gandhi asked party chiefs Sidhu in Punjab, Ganesh Godiyal in Uttarakhand, Ajay Kumar Lallu in Uttar Pradesh, Girish Chodankar in Goa and Nameirakpam Loken Singh in Manipur to resign.
Sidhu, once a Chief Minister aspirant, faced defeat from his stronghold Amritsar (East) seat.
He was locked in a high-profile contest with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia but faced defeat from the hands of AAP greenhorn candidate Jeevanjyot Kaur, who defeated him by a margin of 6,750 votes.
Low-profile hygiene activist Kaur, who believed in door-to-door connect with electorate, emerged as the 'giant slayer' by showing the door to two political heavyweights -- Sidhu and Majithia, who were busy in mudslinging against each other.
In 2017, cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu not only defeated his BJP rival Rajesh Honey with a big margin of over 42,000 votes but also played a role of a game-changer for the party by winning 10 out of 11 seats in Amritsar district, once the citadel of the SAD-BJP combine.
Sidhu is a three-time Amritsar MP from the BJP. In 2014 he "sacrificed" this seat for his 'guru' Arun Jaitley. Later he was adjusted in the Rajya Sabha by the BJP but not finding a bigger role in Punjab, he quit the party and resigned from Parliament.
According to the SAFAR, at 6 p.m. in Delhi, PM2.5 was 435 micrograms per cubic meter. By Saturday morning, its magnitude may decline but values will remain at the edge of very poor and severe, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said.
Defence sources said the customary exchange of Diwali sweets took place between the two armies at the Aman Setu bridge near the Kaman post in Uri sector of the LoC. The other point of exchange was Tithwal on the Kishenganga River in Tangdhar sector of the LoC in Kupwara district.
Director General of Police Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota said the Ludhiana rural police earlier this week arrested two persons for providing shelter and logistical support to the accused, Ranjeet Singh, alias Gora, in the Jalalabad blast case, which is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who reached Ayodhya for the fifth 'Deepotsav' (festival of lights) event, while inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of various projects worth Rs 661 crore, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the construction of a grand Ram temple and also launched an attack on the opposition parties.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Monday warned that if the farmers' demands are not met till November 26, they would pitch tents the following day across all borders of Delhi and reinvigorate their agitation.
In a bonanza to the people of Punjab ahead of Diwali, the Punjab Cabinet on Monday decided to reduce the power tariff to domestic sector consumers having connected load up to 7 KW by Rs 3 per unit.
