Ahead of Punjab Assembly election Captain Amarinder Singh was dethroned from the CM post by Congress high command over his differences with then-state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in a dramatic turn of events.
Kapil Sibal, whose exit is another jolt for the electorally battered Congress that has seen a spate of high-profile resignations, said he dreams of bringing all opposition parties together in the fight against the BJP in 2024.
While the Congress slammed Jakhar, former chief minister Amarinder Singh, whose Punjab Lok Congress is an ally of the BJP, congratulated him for joining the saffron outfit and said honest and upright leaders like him cannot breathe in the grand old party.
Congress media department head and general secretary Randeep Surjewala said that on May 23, Rahul Gandhi will address and interact at Cambridge University on "India at 75: The challenges and way ahead for a resilient-modern India".
Ex-Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar joined the BJP on Thursday in the presence of party chief J P Nadda, days after he quit the grand old party.
Sources say that Jakhar may be nominated to the Rajya Sabha from some other state and also responsibility for Punjab.
The Congress disciplinary committee had on April 11 given a show-cause notice to Jakhar for alleged anti-party activities and sought a reply within a week. However, Jakhar chose not to reply to the panel.
Congress' disciplinary committee asked the senior Congress leader to reply to a showcause notice within a week. Jakhar skipped the deadline and had given no reply.
Addressing an election rally, Congress leader Sunil Jakhar alleged that Channi's chopper was not given permission for Hoshiarpur. The Congress party has asked the election commission to intervene.
Charanjit Singh Channi, after Congress announced him as party's CM face for the upcoming Punjab assembly election 2022, thanked the Congress High Command and people of Punjab for bestowing trust in him.
BJP questioned locus standi of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to announce his party's chief ministerial face for Punjab saying his only qualification now is that he possesses the surname “Gandhi” surname.
In September last year, Charanjit Singh Channi was sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab while Sukhjinder Randhawa and OP Soni took oath as deputy chief ministers.
According to sources in the party, majority of the state leaders are in favour of collective leadership in fighting polls to balance caste equations in the state.
The Punjab government took strong exception to the Centre's reported move of empowering the BSF to carry out searches and make arrests up to an area of 50 km from the international border.
Jakhar also said “aspersions” being cast on the selection of the state's advocate general and state police head were actually “questioning the integrity” of the CM.
He also slammed the Congress' rivals for attacking the party over the choice of chief minister, saying they are missing the forest while counting trees in attributing political motives to the decision.
Sunil Jakhar has described party's state in charge Harish Rawat's statement that the upcoming state Assembly elections will be fought under Navjot Singh Sidhu's leadership as baffling.
Amarinder Singh resigned as Punjab chief minister on Saturday, saying he felt 'humiliated' at the way the party handled the infighting in the state unit. Congress MLAs in Punjab have meanwhile reiterated that the decision over the prospective candidate for the post of Punjab CM lies in the hands of the party's high command. Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, current state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa are frontrunners for the post of the CLP leader, the sources said.
Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday resigned as Punjab Chief Minister ahead of the crucial Congress Legislature Party meeting in Chandigarh today. The development comes amid the ongoing power battle with Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Navjot Singh Sindhu that have created differences in the party.
Amid fresh rumblings in the Punjab unit of Congress, the party has convened an urgent meeting of its legislators in the state in Chandigarh today at 5 pm. Sunil Jakhar spoke on the same, saying that Rahul Gandhi has taken a bold decision.
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