Youth’s murder: SAD MLA gheraoed in Moga village
Tribune News Service
Moga, July 13
Roadways staff accuse SAD of ruining public transport
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 13
The Punjab Roadways Employees Joint Action Committee today accused the SAD-led state government of weakening the public transport system in the state “to promote the Badal family-owned transport company”.AAP opposes Khalsa varsity move
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 13
The Aam Aadmi Party today flayed the decision of the SAD-led state government to set up Khalsa University on Khalsa College's land. The party today declared that after they form the government in Punjab, the proposal for Khalsa University would be scrapped. “The formation of Khalsa University is an attempt by the Majithia family to grab the prestigious land of Khalsa College. Earlier, Majithias tried to convert Khalsa College into a heritage hotel and now the route of Khalsa University is being adopted by them to grab the land,” AAP spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira alleged. He said at the fag end of their rule, Badals were trying their last attempt to "destroy" the heritage of the college.
Captain flays govt’s move to set up varsity
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, July 13
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president, Capt Amarinder Singh, today criticised the Cabinet’s decision of giving approval for setting up Khalsa University in the holy city. He said it was like virtual demolition of a historic institution like Khalsa College, Amritsar.Rendezvous
Like other Congress leaders, the Member of Parliament (MP) from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency, Ravneet Singh Bittu, is also keen to project a united face of the party. In a chat with Minna Zutshi, he talks about politics and development.
How far have you been successful in fulfilling your poll promises?
During the short span of 25 months as an MP from the city, I feel that we have been fairly successful in bringing several projects to the constituency. We have been successful in including the name of Ludhiana in the first list of 20 cities to be developed as smart city.
The core infrastructure elements in a smart city (as per the government website) include adequate water supply, assured electricity supply, sanitation, including solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, affordable housing, especially for the poor, safety and security of citizens, particularly women and children. Most of these core elements are missing in Ludhiana. Your comments…
Well, if we talk of the Railway infrastructure, the survey for the development of the Ludhiana Railway Station for its modernisation in collaboration with the French Railway has started. We will soon see it as a world-class railway station.
Also, a Rs 500 crore Multi Modal Logistics Hub has been sanctioned at Kila Raipur to provide economic boost and generate employment for the people.
The Dhandari Kalan Railway Station has been sanctioned for development as Adarsh Model Railway Station. In future, all the East-bound trains will stop at this station for the benefit of the people belonging to the eastern part of the country and residing in this part of the city.
Moreover, a food park has been sanctioned to be set-up at Ladowal.And as a part of our initiative to use politics to help the needy amongst us, we recently distributed hearing and mobility aids worth Rs 2.5 crore to 2,317 people of the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, you had promised the cleaning up of Buddha Nullah. But it continues to remain a toxic vein of Ludhiana.
We are trying to get the help of the Central Government to remove toxins from Buddha Nullah and to develop Buddha Daria (River) in its original form. We want the government to take up the rejuvenation of Buddha Daria, just as it has taken the cause of rejuvenation of the Ganga on a larger scale.
Any concrete steps taken to handle the pollution problem in Ludhiana that, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), has the unenviable distinction of being the 12th most-polluted city in the world.
With Ludhiana city included in the first list of the smart cities, we would find improved public transport in the next stage and far lesser pollution.
In Ludhiana, the Manchester of India, the industry sentiment is not at all upbeat. The industrial units are either closing down or shifting base to other states. What is your take on this?
We have taken up the issues of the Ludhiana industry – be it steel, cycle parts, hosiery and garments – regularly in the Parliament and also separately with the ministers concerned. We have succeeded in getting relaxations for the industry from time to time. But the fact that the Congress is neither in power in the state nor at the Centre is a big handicap.
The Ludhiana District Congress Committee (DCC) is a house divided. The tug-of-war between District Youth Congress leaders/groups, the squabbling party workers flaunting their allegiance to different leaders – there may be a show of unity but fissures within the DCC are an open secret.
The Congress Party is a family. We stand united and are disciplined, unlike other political parties
Cong opposes CM’s Sangat Darshan
Our Correspondent
Hoshiarpur, July 13
Lashing out at SAD MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha for his remarks against Dr BR Ambedkar, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee SC Department today opposed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s Sangat Darshan in the Garhshankar legislative constituency.Sukhbir must apologise for ISIS comparison: AAP
CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came down heavily on deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday for comparing the party with terror outfit ISIS and terming its leaders radicals and Khalistanis. The party leaders were reacting to comments made by Sukhbir in an interview to HT.
AAP Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur issued a statement that said, “Sukhbir seems to have lost his mind after seeing massive groundswell in favour of AAP in Punjab and sensing his imminent defeat in the 2017 assembly polls.” “Though Sukhbir denies his obsession with the AAP... during his entire interview he talks about nothing else but the AAP. Sukhbir looks visibly scared. It also shows how AAP is giving sleeplessness nights to Sukhbir,” said Chhotepur.
He added, “AAP is the party of the common man, unlike the SAD that is being run by the Badal family like a private limited company. SAD is all about Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Bikram Singh Majithia and Adesh [Adaish] Partap Singh Kairon.” “If Sukhbir was not born as son to Parkash Singh Badal, he could not have been even a councillor,” he said.
Chhotepur also lashed out at Sukhbir for “maligning non-resident Indians (NRIs) by dubbing them as radicals or Khalistanis”. He is only venting his frustration at Punjab’s NRIs after being summarily rejected by them, the AAP leader said. “Only a year ago, Badals used to hold NRI sammelans (conventions) to woo them. But ever since the Punjab’s NRIs have turned against Badals, they have suddenly become either radicals or Khalistanis for them,” he added.AAP spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira demanded an apology from Sukhbir for the comparison with ISIS. He wrote on his Twitter account: “Afraid of jail after 2017 polls #GappiBadal is resorting to wild allegationsAAP is like ISIS, shd prove or apologize.” CAPTAIN IS ‘GHAJINI’: BHAGWANT MANN
AAP MP Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday took a dig at Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh for his reported assertions that he did not remember whether he or any of his family members ever had an account in a Swiss bank.“Capt is acting like Aamir Khan’s ‘Ghajini’ in which the protagonist suffered from a selective memory loss,” Mann said. “How can it be possible that he has no knowledge of his family’s bank accounts in the Swiss bank? It is possible only in a case when you have many accounts in foreign banks and don’t remember about some particular account.”
Central team to visit whitefly-hit cotton areas in Punjab Congress, AAP to scrap Khalsa University if voted to power
NEW DELHI: A central government team of five officials will visit Punjab in the next two days to assess the impact of whitefly attack on cotton crop in the state for the second straight year, the Union agriculture ministry said on Wednesday.
Whitefly has caused damage to the kharif crop in the flowering stage; and a few pockets of Fazilka, Mansa and Bathinda districts are facing the menace, an official statement said.
In Punjab, 1.36 lakh hectares out of total 4.5 lakh hectares of cotton was ravaged by whitefly last season and the output dropped 40%. Because of the fear of whitefly, cotton sowing in Punjab in the current season shrunk to 2.56 lakh hectares.
This time, the whitefly attack was spotted on cotton crop planted near orchards in Abohar, known for kinnow fruit. AMRITSAR/CHANDIGARH: Both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) plan to scrap the decision to set up a private university on the campus of Khalsa College in Amritsar. The parties’ leaders were reacting a day after the Punjab cabinet cleared the decks for establishing ‘Khalsa University’
State Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh urged chief minister Parkash Singh Badal not to pass any act for it in the assembly. “The college is a part of our Khalsa history and heritage and I promise that the day the Congress forms the government, we will restore its status,” Amarinder said in a statement issued in Amritsar on Wednesday.
However, the college management has already said the heritage building of Khalsa College will stay untouched and the college will continue to remain as it is, while the university will come up separately.
Questioning the logic of setting up the university next to Guru Nanak Dev University, he said the government should rather have set one up in southern Punjab where there is none.
AAP spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira issued a statement in Chandigarh that “formation of Khalsa University is an attempt by the Majithia family to grab the prestigious land of heritage Khalsa College”.
Cong poll strategist Kishor told to keep out of party matters
NEW DELHI: The Congress party has asked poll strategist Prashant Kishor to “focus on his role” of providing relevant inputs for the manifesto and devising a “winnable” election campaign in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab and “not interfere” in organisational affairs, party sources said.
The directive has come in the wake of growing unease within the Congress in both the pollbound states over Kishor and his team’s “unnecessary meddling into party matters”.
Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh had to issue a statement on Monday clarifying that ticket allotment is the sole prerogative of party chief Sonia Gandhi following reports that the India Political Action Committee (IPAC), headed by Kishor, will be involved in screening and selection of candidates.
“IPAC has no role in selection process and it has only an advisory role limited to strategy,” he said, adding administration, management and implementation of party programme and strategy “has been and will always remain” the sole prerogative of the state unit.Amarinder further clarified that neither he nor the central leadership has authorised any agency for screening or selection of party candidates, making it clear that Kishor and his team will not be involved in the key process.
Though the Congress leadership has acceded to Kishor’s persistent demand for removal of Madhusudan Mistry and Nirmal Khatri as general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and state chief respectively, the sources confirmed that his choice of names for their replacements were not accepted.
With the appointment of a party veteran like Ghulam Nabi Azad as general secretary in-charge of UP, a central leader said Kishor’s “wings have been clipped” and that he “no longer calls the shots” in the state unit.
After Azad took over, the sources said, Kishor has been told in clear terms that he should “devote all his energy and resources” on devising a “winnable” campaign strategy and leave “organisational matters to party functionaries only”.
Function marks ‘Congress Lao, Punjab Bachao’ campaign
Amritsar, July 13
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| Rajya Sabha member Shamsher Singh Dullo addresses a workers’ meeting in Amritsar on Wednesday. Congress MLAs Raj Kumar Verka and Ashwani Sekhri are also seen on the stage. PHOTO: RK SON |
The Congress party organised a function in the city under its campaign ‘Congress lao, Punjab bachao’ here today. The function was presided over by Rajya Sabha member Shamsher Singh Dullo and local MLA Raj Kumar Verka, besides the All India Congress Committee secretary, Ashwani Sekhri, and the women cell president, Mamta Dutta.
AAP launches ‘jawan-jodo’ campaign
Holds meetings with ex-servicemen to convince them to join the party
Gurvinder Singh
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, July 13
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