Latest news with #ShiromaniAkaliDal-BharatiyaJanataParty
India Gazette
01-07-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Punjab minister alleges 'drugs reached every house' during SAD-BJP tenure
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], July 1 (ANI): Punjab Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond alleged that 'drugs reached every house' in Punjab during the ten years of the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance government. He further alleged that the Aam Admi Party (AAP)-led government in Punjab has 'proof' of their link with the drug smugglers. On action taken against Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a money laundering case linked to drugs, Sond told ANI a day earlier, 'Everyone knows in Punjab that before the formation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government in Punjab in 2007, no one had heard the name of heroin in the SAD-BJP government was in power in Punjab for 10 years, and during that tenure, drugs reached every house in the government has proof of their involvement with drug smugglers, and action is being taken accordingly'. Meanwhile, on Saturday, former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Siddharth Chattopadhyaya said that irrefutable evidence is present against Bikram Singh Majithia linking him to drug traffickers. Chattopadhyaya alleged that crucial evidence against Majithia has existed since 2012. 'These are young and new officers who have shown the courage to work. I had gone there to guide them that the evidence has been in the file since 2012. So, use it and present it before the court. This is irrefutable and on-record evidence, legally acceptable in court as evidence. But with his influence, he had suppressed it,' the former DGP told ANI. Majithia was sent to seven days of police custody by a Mohali court on Thursday in connection with a money laundering case linked to drugs. He will be produced before the court again on July 2. Earlier, the Public Prosecutor Advocate Ferry Sofat told ANI, 'Bikram Singh Majithia's income of Rs 540 crore remains undisclosed, and he could not mention any details about it.' He informed the court that there were large and unexplained cash deposits made by Saraya Industries, a company operated by Majithia's family since the 1950s. The court was also informed that Majithia had allegedly threatened the investigating officers during his arrest, and the incident was captured on video. (ANI)
Hindustan Times
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
17 years on, another bid to set the ball rolling for Jalandhar's sports hub
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is making yet another effort to revive the long-awaited sports hub at Jalandhar's Burlton Park, with chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal set to lay the foundation stone of the project on June 11. The project, which has remained in limbo for 17 long years, is now estimated to cost ₹77.77-crore. Facilities for outdoor & indoor games The sports hub, which is to come up on 60 acres, will include outdoor sports facilities such as cricket stadium, astroturf hockey ground and seven-side football ground (natural grass), each with separate pavilion areas. It will also have indoor sports facilities for multiple disciplines including yoga, skating, cycling and jogging. In limbo since 2008 The project was first floated by the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine in 2008. In 2016, the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs announced that Jalandhar will be developed as a Smart City, with the sports hub set to be one of the key projects. In 2022, just before the state assembly elections, the then Congress government had awarded the project's tender to a Chandigarh-based firm, with a completion deadline of 12 months, but it only managed to construct the boundary wall. A sum of ₹1.13-crore was also released to the company after which the MC terminated the tender. Jalandhar mayor Vaneet Dhir said the municipal corporation has re-allotted the tenders to the same company, which was assigned the project earlier. 'The project had been hanging fire due to lack of political and administrative will because of which contractors were also reluctant to work on it. In the last four months, multiple meetings were held with contractors, who were ensured that all the required logistics will be provided for the completion of the project,' said Dhir. Former AAP MP Sushil Kumar Rinku, who is presently with the BJP, said it appears to be a 'gimmick' to score brownie points. 'Both Mann and Kejriwal had promised the revive the project while campaigning for me during the 2023 Jalandhar bypoll. Exactly two years on, they are doing a formality of initiating the project,' said Rinku. He also questioned why the tender was awarded to the same company, 'which had left the project mid-way'.
