New Delhi: 8:41 PM: Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that his party's support for Pranab Mukherjee as President did not mean support for the Congress. "It's sad that NDA couldn't find a presidential candidate in such a vast country. The NDA is indecisive, it need to get on the right path. For 2014 polls, we need to begin preparing now, he said. 2:34 PM: The Telugu...
12:06 PM, Jun 19, 2012
New Delhi: NCP leader PA Sangma is in no mood to throw in the towel for the post of President just yet. The tribal leader who is backed by the BJD and AIADMK will be reaching out to two more parties for support on Monday. Sangma is expected to call on Shiromani Akali Dal Chief Parkash Singh Badal for support. He is also expected to meet Shiv Sena chief Bal...
06:54 AM, Jun 18, 2012
New Delhi: 10:50 AM Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee refuses to lend her support to possible NDA nominee PA Sangma. 10:03 AM: Shiv Sena may skip NDA meet, say sources. The sources add the party is undecided on giving support to the NDA's presidential candidate. The NDA will hold a crucial meet on Sunday to decide on their Presidential nominee. Sources say the coalition is divided on its choice...
07:20 AM, Jun 17, 2012
The NDA is divided over taking on Pranab Mukherjee. JD(U), Shiromani Akali Dal are not keen on a contest. Janata Party chief Sumbramaian Swamy, Shiv Sena are keen, but there is a division within the BJP. ...
12:11 PM, Jun 16, 2012
New Delhi: The BJP, which is part of the ruling alliance in Punjab, on Wednesday opposed the construction of Operation Blue Star memorial in Amritsar by radical sikhs, terming it "anti-national" and asked people to move forward and not be distracted. While senior BJP leader Balbir Punj termed the move as "anti-national", party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the people of Punjab should not be distracted by such things and...
02:52 AM, Jun 08, 2012
Chandigarh: The Akalis have sparked off a controversy on the 28th anniversary of Operation Blue Star by raising a memorial for militants killed in the operation and honouring former chief minister Beant Singh's assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana. The memorial inside the Golden Temple complex glorifies militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Maj Gen Shabeg Singh, among others, killed in the operation. The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) dominated by the...
11:50 PM, Jun 06, 2012
Chandigarh: Clashes have been reported from Patiala and some other regions of Punjab as tension escalates over the hanging of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. Sikh groups have also taken out protest marches in Jammu in support of Rajoana, putting pressure on the Punjab government. Security forces have been put on high alert across Punjab and 60,000 Punjab Police personnel along...
02:51 PM, Mar 28, 2012
Chandigarh: A day-long bandh called by radical Sikh outfits to protest the proposed execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the Beant Singh killing case, disrupted normal life in parts of Punjab on Tuesday. A report from Patiala said the call for bandh evoked a total response in the city where Rajoana is lodged in the local Central Jail awaiting his execution on March 31 as per the orders of...
10:43 AM, Mar 28, 2012
The government asked 15 paramilitary companies to be deployed ahead of Balwant Singh Rajoana's hanging on March 31. ...
02:52 PM, Mar 27, 2012
Chandigarh: Former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's co-assassin Balwant Singh Rajaona has hit out at the Shiromani Akali Dal. In a letter written from his jail cell addressed to the Sikh community, Rajoana has refused help from the ruling party, saying it is trying to score political brownie points by supporting his clemency plea. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will meet the Prime Minister and the President to seek...
10:24 AM, Mar 27, 2012
Chandigarh: Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal on Sunday asked the state government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to take all possible legal and other steps to secure clemency for Balwant Singh Rajoana, a Babbar Khalsa International terrorist, facing death sentence for former chief minister Beant Singh's assassination. At an emergency meeting here of the party's core committee, chaired by party president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal,...
10:13 PM, Mar 25, 2012
New Delhi: Eighty seven-year-old Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday took oath as Punjab Chief Minister. This is Badal's fifth term as the Chief Minister. Badal's son Sukhbir will remain his deputy. Badal's 18-member cabinet includes 14 colleagues from his party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The remaining four are from its ally, the BJP. All the seventeen ministers are of cabinet rank, including Sukhbir. The Badal family has four members...
11:31 AM, Mar 14, 2012
New Delhi: A host of leaders across party lines are expected to descend in Chandigarh on Wednesday to attend Parkash Singh Badal's swearing-in ceremony. But Mamata Banerjee will not be among them. The Trinamool Chief had initially accepted Badal's invitation but changed her mind on Tuesday. This will be 87-year-old Badal's fifth term as Chief Minister. His son Sukhbir will remain his deputy. Badal's 18-member cabinet will include 14 colleagues...
06:16 AM, Mar 14, 2012
Chandigarh: Akali stalwart Parkash Singh Badal will be sworn in as Punjab Chief Minister on March 14 for a record fifth time with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) electing him as its Legislature party leader unanimously on Thursday, ending all speculation over the leadership issue. "I had declared it well in advance that Badal will be the Chief Minister," SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal told reporters at the chief minister's official...
04:45 PM, Mar 08, 2012
Chandigarh: With SAD-BJP alliance retaining power in Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal has called a meeting of the party's newly-elected legislators on March 8. The newly-elected MLAs of the party would meet at 10 am in Chandigarh on March 8 while the party's core committee would meet at 6 pm on the same day, SAD spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said. Bucking the anti-incumbency trend, the SAD (Badal)...
06:21 PM, Mar 06, 2012
Chandigarh: The ruling Shiromani Akal Dal(SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) created history in the Punjab Assembly by retaining power in Punjab belying history which has not seen the incumbent returning to power in the last 46 years. The SAD-BJP alliance won 68 seats, while Congress won 46 seats. The Others won three seats as results were declared for all 117 seats in Punjab Assembly. Following are the prominent winners and losers in...
05:50 PM, Mar 06, 2012
Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal created history on Tuesday to become the first party ever to retain power in Punjab bucking the anti-incumbency factor with Parkash Singh Badal, the grand old man of the state politics, and his son Sukhbir Singh leading the charge. And Parkash Singh Badal, who his party says is 84 while his opponents put him on the wrong side of the nineties, will have another feather on...
04:58 PM, Mar 06, 2012
Chandigarh: Any hopes for a third front in Punjab's electoral politics were shattered as results to the 117 assembly seats were declared on Tuesday. Former finance minister and People's Party of Punjab (PPP) president Manpreet Singh Badal, who broke away from his uncle, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, in October 2010 to chart his own political course, was comprehensively decimated. The PPP even failed to open its account in the...
04:15 PM, Mar 06, 2012
New Delhi: The Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance created history in Punjab by retaining power with a comfortable majority. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal thanked the people of Punjab and appreciated his party's performance in the state. Reacting to the victory, Parkash Singh Badal said, "One of the two reasons we won is that the BJP gave its full fledged support to us. And the other reason which...
03:50 PM, Mar 06, 2012
New Delhi: Punjab Congress chief and former chief minister Amarinder Singh said that he was ready to step down taking full responsibility for the party's loss in Punjab assembly elections. "This is my fight and my loss. I take full responsibility of this battle. All workers and party members worked very well. We will do an introspection of the loss," said Amarinder while addressing a press conference after it became...
03:10 PM, Mar 06, 2012
