Sonia calls Punjab MPs to work together to win poll
Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Jul, 2021 12:20 PM
New Delhi, July 19 (IANS) After party MPs from Punjab had sought an appointment with her, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi called all the lawmakers and asked them to work together in the state to win next year's Assembly polls, sources said on Monday.
The development comes after the appointment of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the party's Punjab unit chief, announced late on Sunday.
Congress MPs from both Houses had met on Sunday afternoon at Rajya Sabha member Pratap Singh Bajwa's residence to discuss the issues related to Punjab and sought an appointment with Gandhi.
Asked about the meet, Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari, who was batting for a non-Sikh state chief, said: "Internal party matters will be only be discussed at party forums."
Bajwa, who was the host, played down the meeting, saying: "We are with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi... whatever decision they will take, everybody will accept it."
India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi says people from China, including the Chinese nationals, have been able to travel to India despite the absence of direct air connectivity.
Personnel of Kolkata Police's Special Task Force ( STF) on Wednesday gunned down two Punjab gangsters believed to be involved in gun running and responsible for killing two policemen. The deceased duo has been identified as Jaspreet Jassi and Jaipal Bhullar.
In the early hours, Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad were clobbered with heavy rain, inundating several low-lying areas, barely a fortnight after the city survived the Cyclone Tauktae devastation.
Anto Alphonse, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), North Delhi, said that the police have arrested Kadir Ansari, 27, and Mohammad Arif, 37, both members of an inter-state drug smuggling racket active in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh with 32.5 Kg of cannabis.
The World Bank has lowered the growth projection for India for the financial year 2021-22 to 8.3 per cent. Its previous growth estimate for the fiscal was 10.1 per cent.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to register cases under the Disaster Management Act against Opposition leaders and activists who have been staging protests in the state over the past few days.
