Azad Group joins SAD, Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa to contest Tarn Taran bypoll
Shiromani Akali Dal
president
Sukhbir Singh Badal
on Sunday announced Azad Group president Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa as the party's candidate for the Tarn Taran bypoll, marking the merger of the grassroots group into the SAD.
The merger is a shot in the arm for the SAD in the rural, border constituency. Addressing a rally where he made the announcement, Sukhbir said Randhawa, along with 43 serving sarpanches, eight municipal councillors, and several former sarpanches and chairmen, had joined the SAD. He also declared Randhawa as the party's halqa in-charge for Tarn Taran.
The bypoll was necessitated by June 27 passing away of AAP MLA Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal.
The Election Commission is yet to announce a date for the bypoll, but the AAP, the BJP and the SAD have already started work for the electoral contest. Three-time MLA Harmeet Singh Sandhu joined the AAP last week, while BJP announced former minister Surjit Kumar Jyani as its in-charge for the constituency just a day later.
Sandhu had quit SAD in 2024. At the rally in Tarn Taran's Jhabal village, Sukhbir said senior SAD functionary Gulzar Singh Ranike would be the in-charge for the bypoll campaign.
He appealed to Punjabis to unite under the Akali flag to counter "outside forces" who wanted to loot the state. "These forces were behind the 2015 acts of sacrilege which were committed with the sole aim of weakening SAD. We have already called for an independent probe into these sacrilege cases as it feels that only a free-and-fair probe can unmask AAP's role in these heinous incidents," Sukhbir said.
He said the AAP's role in the incidents of sacrilege was evident from the conviction of its legislator for sacrilege of the Quran.
Randhawa said parties often neglected Punjab after coming to power and accused AAP govt of handing over the state's control to Delhi.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
24 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Not viable': Bhubaneswar metro project hangs in balance as Odisha govt cancels tender
Uncertainty looms over the Bhubaneswar Metro Rail Project after the Odisha government has cancelled the tender for the ambitious urban mobility project initiated by the erstwhile Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government. Odisha's Housing and Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mohapatra said the decision to cancel the tender was taken in view of delay in implementation and to avoid cost escalation. 'The metro project initiated by the previous government wouldn't have been viable. Our government has formed an inter-minister committee to take a fresh look into the project by studying different aspects, its viability and to submit a fresh proposal before the project,' said the urban development minister. Mohapatra said the state government would take up the project in consultation with the Centre unlike the BJD government that had decided to take it on its own. Former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone of the project on January 1, 2024, months before the simultaneous polls. It was estimated to spend a whopping Rs 6,300 crore to develop the first phase of the project with a length of 26 km from Bhubaneswar Airport to Trisulia near Orissa high court in Cuttack with 20 stations and to extend it to Puri, Khurda and Cuttack subsequently. It was decided to develop the metro rail track and stations on elevated viaduct. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was roped in by the Odisha government to implement the project that floated the tender and engaged different agencies to take up the project. Though ground work for the metro project was started, it hit hurdles after the BJP assumed power in Odisha on June 24. Taking a dig at the BJP government over cancellation of the metro project as he said the double-engine government has 'betrayed' the people of Odisha and the decision will push Bhubaneswar 10 years back. 'It has always been our dream to develop #Bhubaneswar into a world-class city. We have been focusing on world class sports infrastructure, organising marquee international events, providing seamless modern transport and developing the IT ecosystem to transform the temple city into a world class city,' wrote Patnaik on X. Patnaik, in his post, wrote that the Bhubaneswar metro project would have reshaped the way city moves with #MoBus and other last mile connectivity complementing the city transport. 'Apart from alleviating congestion inside the city significantly, it would have been a huge catalyst for the expansion of the city. Realising the urgent need of a Metro System for enhanced mobility, we had set a watertight timeline of 2027 for Phase 1 of the project,' he noted.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
24 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Lok Sabha to hold special discussion on 'Operation Sindoor' today
Lok Sabha is set to hold a special discussion on 'Operation Sindoor', India's military response to the Pahalgam terror attack on Monday. A fiery debate on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor is expected to unfold in Parliament, between top leaders from the ruling alliance and the Opposition. Lok Sabha List of Business for Monday states, "Special Discussion on India's strong, successful and decisive 'Operation Sindoor' in response to terrorist attack in Pahalgam". Twenty-six civilians were killed in the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, after which India retaliated through precision strikes under Operation Sindoor, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). Meanwhile, the first week of the Monsoon session of Parliament witnessed major disruptions with the surprise resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice President. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to initiate the discussion on Operation Sindhoor in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Sources said that Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and BJP MPs Anurag Thakur and Nishikant Dubey are also expected to take part in the discussion in Lok Sabha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to intervene in the discussion in the Lok Sabha. He may also intervene in the discussion in the Rajya Sabha. Sources said discussion on Operation Sindoor will begin in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Rajnath Singh and S Jaishankar will be among ministers who will take part in the discussion in the Rajya Sabha, sources said. TDP's Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu and GM Harish Balayogi are expected to participate in the discussion on Op Sindoor in the Lok Sabha. The sources said the party has been allotted 30 minutes. From the Samajwadi Party, its chief Akhilesh Yadav, and MP Rajiv Rai will participate in the debate. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the debate on Operation Sindoor will be held for 16 hours in the Lok Sabha on July 28 and for 16 hours in the Rajya Sabha on July 29. "All issues cannot be discussed together... The opposition has raised several issues, like the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar and others. We have told them that Operation Sindoor will be discussed first. We will decide which issues to discuss after that. Operation Sindoor will be debated for 16 hours in the Lok Sabha on Monday (July 28) and for 16 hours in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (July 29)," Rijiju told reporters. Opposition parties have been demanding a discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor and have sought the government's clarification over US President Donald Trump's repeated claims that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The Opposition parties had been demanding PM Modi's presence during the debate. Since PM Modi travelled abroad on a two-nation visit this week, the discussion has been scheduled for next week. Apart from this, the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc parties will meet on Monday at 10 am to discuss the strategy for the second week of the monsoon session, with the Lok Sabha slated to take up discussion on Operation Sindoor on Monday and the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India Today
43 minutes ago
- India Today
Yogi Adityanath becomes Uttar Pradesh's longest‑serving Chief Minister
YogiAdityanath has become the longestserving Chief Minister in the history of Uttar Pradesh, surpassing GovindBallabhPant's record. He has completed 8 years and 132 days in office-exceeding Pant's cumulative tenure of 8 years and 127 days (including his preIndependence premiership). With this milestone, Yogi now holds the record for the state's longest continuous tenure as Chief Adityanath first assumed office on March 19, 2017, when he was sworn in as the 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He later secured a second consecutive term, becoming the first Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh's electoral history to complete a full fiveyear term and then be firebrand BJP leader has been making headlines for his sharp statements against opposition leaders, and his effective governance and leadership in the past eight years. Born as Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht on June 5, 1972, Yogi Aditayanath became an MP at the age of 26 and represented Gorakhpur in the Lok Sabha for five terms. Here are more details about him on his 53rd birthday:- EndsTrending Reel IN THIS STORY#Yogi Adityanath#Uttar Pradesh
