Tuesday, 31 January 2017
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Saturday, 28 January 2017
Friday, 27 January 2017
Thursday, 26 January 2017
BSP suffers major setback in Ludhiana, Doaba region
BSP suffers major setback in Ludhiana, Doaba region, several key party leaders join Congress
Sky Hawk Times
Chandigarh, January 26
The Congress election campaign on Thursday got a further boost with several senior BSP leaders joining the party in the presence of Captain Amarinder Singh.
Convenor Punjab BSP Missionary worker Ramanjit Lalli, who contested the assembly from Ludhiana East in 2012, joined the Punjab Congress along with 15 other BSP leaders and supporters.
Welcoming them in the party, PPCC President Captain Amarinder Singh said the fact that leaders of almost all the main opposition parties were joining the Congress vindicated its secular credentials. The Congress, he said, was the only party working for all sections of the society, irrespective of the caste and creed.
Extending his unconditional support to the Congress, Lalli, who had contested 2007 polls from Ludhiana North on a BSP ticket, said that he and his supporters would work hard in their respective region to make sure that Congress registers victory in the election with a handsome margin.
Other prominent BSP leaders who joined Congress were Councillor Hans Raj, former BSP Ludhiana Urban President Mahinder Singh Dhandari, former President BSP Ludhiana Rural Gian Singh Bali, BSP candidate from Raikot in 2012 Baldev Singh, BSP candidate from Ludhiana South in 2012 Bhanu Prasad Yadav, BSP candidate from Atam Nagar in 2012 Baldev Singh Dubey and dalit leader Tarsem Lal Phagwara.
Secretary to President PPCC Damanjit Singh Mohi facilitated the entry of the BSP leaders into the Congress. Other present during the joining included District President Youth Congress Ludhiana Rajiv Raja, Secretary PPCC Ankit Bansal and Assembly President Youth Congress Ramandeep Singh Ricky.
Vote for AAP equal to vote for SAD : Capt Amarinder
Vote for AAP equal to vote for SAD, says Capt Amarinder, dubbing both as radical in ideology
Sky Hawk Times
Dera Bassi, January 26
Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday warned the people that voting for Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would be equivalent to a mandate for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), whose misrule they had been suffering for the past 10 years.
Dubbing both AAP and SAD as organizations with radical ideologies, Captain Amarinder exhorted the people to be wary of playing into the hands of either in these elections. While the Akalis have been looting the people for the past 10 years through their mafia rule, the AAP had now brought in outsiders to destroy the very `Punjabiyat’ of the state.
Addressing a pubic rally in Dera Bassi, Captain Amarinder vowed to punish local SAD candidate NK Sharma and others like him who had been victimizing people all these years. “Inhan nunh lambe pa dyanga,” he declared to a massive applause. The Congress candidate from Dera Bassi, Deepinder Singh Dhillon said Sharma would not be spared for harassing the people of the constituency.
Amid loud cheers by the crowd, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president with five lakh false cases and FIRs, the innocent people of the state were suffering under the Badal-led Akali rule. “Buddhey (Badal) nunh vi lamba pawanga,” he asserted, adding that he had decided to contest from Parkash Singh Badal’s constituency of Lambi to teach him a lesson for looting and cheating the people.
In a separate rally at Khanna, the PPCC president said Asia’s biggest mandi was in a shamble, as was the industry. He reiterated his promise to waive off farm loans to bring agricultural growth back on track and strongly urged the people to vote for Congress candidate Gurkirat Singh Kotli, grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.
Pointing out that the entire southern Punjab would be rendered dry if the SYL was allowed to be constructed, Captain Amarinder said he would not allow a single drop of water to leave Punjab, once elected to power, even if it meant going to jail for defying the court’s orders.
Addressing a large crowd in Samrala, from where the party has put up Amrik Singh Dhillon as its candidate, Captain Amarinder promised the farmers of prompt and full payment for their produce, saying no effort would be spared by the Congress, once it comes to power, to alleviate their sufferings.
Captain Amarinder told the crowds in his rallies that he would be going with AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi to the Badal father-son duo’s constituencies of Lambi and Jalalabad, as well as Majithia’s constituency, to `kutto’ (thrash) them all for unleashing terror and mafia rule on the people. The crowds responded with slogans of `Vote lagao punje te, baba pap manje te.’
The Badals had done nothing but looted Punjab to create hotels and businesses for themselves, said Captain Amarinder, pointing out that the SAD-BJP government had put a stop to all development initiatives of the previous Congress government in the state. “We had signed MOUs to create 20 lakh jobs but they came and scuttled the plan since they wanted only the family to prosper,” he said.
Captain Amarinder lashed out at Badal for the growing incidence of sacrilege in the state and reiterated his vow to punish him and all others found guilty to spreading criminal polarization. Badal was responsible for the division of Punjab and now wanted to create a religious split among its people, he said.
He promised to create a land pool for the development of industries through mega investments, thereby creating jobs for the unemployed youth of Punjab. He also reiterated his vow to wipe out the drug menace in four weeks.
Captain Amarinder expressed the confidence of the Congress sweeping the Punjab polls by 2/3rdmajority to save the state and its people from what otherwise appeared to be inevitable doom.
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Punjab Congress expels 7 rebels
Punjab Congress expels 7 rebels after they fail to withdraw from poll race
Sky Hawk Times
Chandigarh, January 25
Seven rebel candidates were on Wednesday permanently expelled from the party after they refused to withdraw from the poll race even after the final warning from Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder.
A Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) office order said they had been “expelled permanently from the primary membership of the party for anti-party activities with immediate effect.”
Those expelled are Ashok Sharma, Gurbinder Singh Atwal, Jagmeet Singh Sahota, Hemraj Aggarwal, Manjit Singh Mann, Amarjit Singh Gharu and Rajinder Deepa.
Earlier on Sunday Captain Amarinder Singh had issued a final ultimatum to the rebel candidates who continued to defy the party diktat to withdraw their candidature or retire from the poll fray. The rebels were given time till 5 p.m. on Tuesday to step down in favour of the Congress candidates in their respective constituencies.
While several rebel candidates had earlier been persuaded by the party leadership to take back their nominations before the last date given by the Election Commission, a handful of them remain defiant and did not withdraw their papers. They were on Sunday given another 48 hours to leave the race official Congress candidates. However, these seven party members failed to toe the party line within the deadline.
Captain Amarinder said it was important to send out a strong message that the party would not tolerate such rebellion and those going against the high command’s decision would have to pay for it. He made it clear that the expulsion of these seven members was permanent and they would not be taken back into the party under any circumstances.
He reiterated that the candidates selected for tickets by the party leadership were chosen for their winnability and those who had withdrawn in favour of the officially nominated candidates would be accommodated in key positions once the Congress forms the government in the state.
Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Capt Amarinder promises to free SGPC from Badal stranglehold to check abuse of religion
Capt Amarinder promises to free SGPC from Badal stranglehold to check abuse of religion
Says Kejriwal’s façade of honesty had been ripped apart by fake bills case against his brother-in-law
Sky Hawk Times
Budhlada, January 24
Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh has promised to free the SGPC from the Badal stranglehold to prevent the growing abuse of religion and sacrilegious incidents in the state.
Addressing a public rally at Budhlada on Tuesday, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president also cornered AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal over reports of his brother-in-law being probed in a corruption case involving fake bills by the Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW), saying this showed the true colours of the party leadership.
AAP was playing with the emotions of the people of Punjab with their façade of honesty and clean governance promise, but the people would not be taken in by such pretenses, said Captain Amarinder. The people had already rejected AAP, said the PPPC chief, referring to a letter being circulated on the social media in which senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh has reportedly written to Kejriwal, asking him to reduce his electioneering in Punjab and allow local leaders to take over. Though Sanjay Singh subsequently denied the letter, Captain Amarinder later told some mediapersons that the negative intelligence reports on AAP's poll prospects in Punjab, referred to in the letter, appeared to be true, going by the ground realities.
Asserting that there was no difference between Kejriwal and Badal, who he said
were both thieves, Captain Amarinder said the growing misuse of religion in the state was a matter of serious concern. Citing the increasing number of incidents of sacrilege and desecration of holy books in what appeared to be a clear bid by the Akalis to polarize the state on communal lines to get votes, the Punjab Congress president promised to free SGPC from political interference by the Badal-led Akalis. He declared his full support to all those willing to stand up against Badal in the SGPC.
Referring to the CIA report on Punjab terrorism, Captain Amarinder held Parkash Singh Badal squarely responsible for creating the ground for the spread of extremism in the state. He also hit out at Badal for running away after the 1984 attack, which triggered unrest in the state, eventually escalating into terrorism.
Captain Amarinder reiterated his commitment to giving a total thrashing to Badal on his home turf of Lambi in these assembly polls, saying it was time to get rid of the corrupt and criminal Badals, who had thrown the state into a whirlpool of problems, ranging from unemployment to drugs, industrial and agricultural collapse, economic crisis, mafia rule and more.
Promising to bring the youth of the state out of the quagmire of drugs and unemployment, Captain Amarinder said he would ensure one job per family and help wean the youth away from drugs by giving them employment.
“Do you know the `lambu’ who makes chitta?” asked Captain Amarinder, evoking a spontaneous response of `Majithia’ from the crowd. The PPCC president said, amid loud cheers, that Majithia was now known as Chitta, and he would wipe Chitta out of Punjab.
He told the crowd he wanted to give youth the chance to lead the state’s progress and had decided to quit the political arena after these polls, which would be his last electoral outing.
Captain Amarinder appealed to the people to vote for Congress candidate Ranjit Kaur Bhatti in their own interest and in the interest of the future of Punjab.
SAD, AAP fighting for 2nd & 3rd place : Shakeel Ahmed
SAD, AAP fighting for 2nd & 3rd place, Congress clear winner in Punjab : Shakeel Ahmed
Sky Hawk Times
Chandigarh, January 24:
Former Union Minister of State for Home and senior AICC spokesman Shakeel Ahmed on Tuesday dismissed any contest for the Congress from either the Akali Dal or the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying the two parties were fighting each other for the second and third place, with the Congress the clear winner in the Punjab election scene.
Describing Arvind Kejriwal as `small Modi’ and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as `big Kejriwal’, Shakeel Ahmed said the people of Punjab do not trust either of them and were also not willing to trust the Akalis after 10 years of their misrule.
Addressing a press conference here, Shakeel Ahmed, questioned the credibility of both the BJP-SAD combine, as well as AAP, in the eyes of the people of Punjab. The nation and Delhi experimented with change in the last elections and elected Kejriwal for CM and Modi for PM and the result of the experiment is in front of us, said Shakeel Ahmed, adding that far from being a clean city, Delhi today has become the Garbage City. He accused Kejriwal of contesting elections only in BJP-ruled states to encash on the anti-government fact.
He pointed out that Badals’ close associates had been named in the drug trade in Punjab, while AAP’s lack of credibility could be gauged from the fact that the party had lost eight out of 11 Delhi municipal corporation seats. The Badals, he added, had pushed the state of Punjab 10 years back, with the people suffering from lack of everything, include jobs, power etc. Agriculture and industry had collapsed completely, with demonetisation further breaking the back of the people, he said.
Punjab today has become a synonym of drug menace, farmers’ pathetic conditions, unemployment and terror and the SAD manifesto is another step to throw dust in the eyes of electorate. “What have they accomplished out of the promises made in last manifestoes and the accountability for their misdeeds, this should have been listed out in their manifesto rather than more promises. People of Punjab cannot trust the SAD-BJP combine and will not vote them to power again,” he added.
Under the BJP-SAD rule, Punjab had been completely sidelined in the past two and a half years of Modi rule even though the BJP was ruling at the centre, while under the Dr. Manmohan Singh-led UPA government the state had received ample funds for development,. said Shakeel Ahmed
In response to a question, Shakeel said both Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will participate in the Punjab Congress campaign. To another question, he expressed opposition to RSS statement against caste-based reservation.
Congress to go on mega offensive against Badals, Majithia
Congress to go on mega offensive against Badals, MajithiaRahul Gandhi all set for joint rallies with Capt Amarinder, Sidhu
Sky Hawk Times
Chandigarh, January 24
The Congress will go on a mega offensive against the Badals and their close associate Majithia from Friday, with AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi ready to take on the Akali leaders on their home turfs along with PPCC president Captain Amarinder Singh and party’s star campaigner Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Rahul Gandhi will arrive in Punjab on a three-day electioneering tour, the highlights of which will be joint public rallies with Capt Amarinder and Sidhu in Majitha, Jalalabad and Lambi. Rahul’s tour will give a further raise the Congress campaign pitch in Punjab, where a clear public mood is already visible in favour of the party.
While Captain Amarinder is taking on Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in the assembly elections from Lambi, Jalalabad is the constituency from which Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is trying his luck again this time. Majitha is the battleground for the Badals’s kin and close associate Bikram Singh Majithia – an Akali strongman caught in serious allegations of drug trading and nexus with other mafias in the state.
Rahul Gandhi’s campaign will scale up the Congress offensive in all these three assembly segments and will further strengthen the wave in the party’s favour in the state.
Besides these three key assembly constituencies, Rahul Gandhi will also campaign in Rampura Phul. Talwandi Sabo and Bathinda Urban, besides Majthia, on the first day (January 27), followed by Jalalabad, Budhlada and Dhuri on January 28, when he will also meet industrialists in Ludhiana.
January 29 has been scheduled for Rahul Gandhi’s public meetings in Gidderbaha and Lambi.
Other senior Congress leaders are already in Punjab from the AICC and party units of various states to support the party’s campaign in the state.
Monday, 23 January 2017
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