News Analysis India

Tag: Punjab Assembly Polls 2022

  • Punjab Assembly polls: Arvind Kejriwal promises Rs 1,000 per month for women if AAP wins

    By PTI

    MOGA: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday that Rs 1,000 per month will be transferred into the accounts of all women in Punjab if his party AAP is voted to power in the 2022 assembly polls.

    “Today I want to make an announcement. Aam Aadmi Party will form the government in Punjab. We will transfer Rs 1,000 every month into the accounts of every woman who is more than 18 years old in the state,” he said, adding to the list of freebies promised by him.

    Elderly women who are getting an old-age pension will continue to get that in addition to the Rs 1,000 to be credited into their accounts, Kejriwal, who started his two-day Punjab visit on Monday, said while addressing a gathering here.

    Under the AAP’s ‘Mission Punjab’, Kejriwal will visit various places in the state in the next one month to rally support for the upcoming state electi polls.

    The AAP, founded in 2012, had emerged as the main opposition in Punjab in the last assembly election but party leaders had admitted that they were expecting the party to fare better.

    Kejriwal has already promised up to 300 units of free electricity for each household in Punjab, 24-hour electricity supply and free treatment and medicines at government hospitals if voted to power in the assembly elections due early next year.

  • Punjab Assembly elections 2022: SAD announces three more party candidates

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal Friday announced the names of three more party candidates for the 2022 Punjab assembly elections.

    The three SAD candidates whose names were announced include its sitting MLA from Batala, Lakhbir Singh Lodhiangal, who will fight the upcoming assembly elections from the Fatehgarh Churhian assembly seats.

    Ravikaran Singh Kahlon will be the candidate from Dera Baba Nanak and Yunus Mohammad will be fighting from Malerkotla, SAD senior vice president Daljit Singh Cheema said in a statement here.

    Cheema said apart from announcing the names of candidates, Badal has also appointed Ravikaran Kahlon as the party’s general secretary.

    He said the party has announced the names of 77 candidates so far.

    The SAD had in June allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the 2022 elections to the 117-member Punjab assembly.

    According to the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties, the Mayawati-led BSP will fight on 20 seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.

  • Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh says will launch his own party, open to seat arrangement with BJP

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said he would soon announce his own political party and is hopeful of a seat arrangement with the BJP if the farmers’ issue is resolved in their interest.

    Singh resigned as chief minister of Punjab last month after a bitter feud with Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu and infighting in the state unit.

    The party replaced him with Charanjit Singh Channi.

    “The battle for Punjab’s future is on. Will soon announce the launch of my own political party to serve the interests of Punjab and its people, including our farmers who’ve been fighting for their survival for over a year,” Singh said Tuesday.

    The two-time chief minister also said he will not rest until he secures the future of “my people and my state”.

    “Punjab needs political stability and protection from internal and external threats. I promise my people I will do what it takes to ensure its peace and security, which is today at stake,” he was quoted as saying by his media adviser in a tweet.

    “Hopeful of a seat arrangement with BJP in 2022 Punjab Assembly polls if farmers protest is resolved in farmers’ interest. Also looking at alliance with like-minded parties such as breakaway Akali groups, particularly Dhindsa and Brahmpura factions,” Singh, who had faced an unceremonious exit from the state government last month, said.

    Hundreds of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi borders since November 26 last year, demanding the repeal of three farm laws, enacted in September last year.

    The Akali factions mentioned by Singh are of Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, who were expelled from Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) earlier for revolting against its leadership.

    Dhindsa then had formed the Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic) while Brahmpura had floated the SAD (Taksali).

    Later, both the leaders formed the SAD (Sanyukt) after the dissolution of SAD (Taksali) and the SAD (Democratic).

    After resigning from the post of chief minister, Singh had said that he felt “humiliated”.

    Later, he had also called Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra “inexperienced”.

    Singh had also dubbed state Congress chief Sidhu “anti-national” and “dangerous” and said he would pit a strong candidate against Sidhu in the upcoming assembly polls.

    Singh had last month met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi and had discussed the prolonged farmers’ stir with him while urging him to resolve the crisis urgently with the repeal of the three farm laws.

    His meeting with Shah had triggered speculation of his joining the BJP.

    Later he scotched speculation of his joining the saffron party but said he would quit the Congress, which he asserted was going downhill with senior leaders being ignored.

    “I will not join BJP (but) I will not stay in the Congress party,” the 79-year-old leader had then said, adding that he had been “utterly humiliated” and was not trusted.

  • Punjab CM Amarinder Singh meets Sidhu, sets up panel for coordination ahead of assembly polls

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday agrees to set up a 10-member ‘Strategic Policy Group’ for better coordination between the ruling party and the state government. 

    In a move that struck a reconciliatory chord ahead of the crucial assembly elections, the two also ruled that all cabinet ministers must be be available at Punjab Congress Bhawan on rotation every day to address the public grievances.

    One minister each will be available at the Congress Bhawan from Monday for three hours (11 am to  2 pm). In case, a minister is unable to make it, he or she will have to arrange a substitute. The arrangement will be in place five days in a week, from Monday to Friday, said Amarinder, adding that this will help in better coordination between his government and party functionaries in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections. 

    Sidhu along with working president Kuljit Singh Nagra and newly appointed General Secretary (Organization) Pargat Singh called on Amarinder to discuss related issues and steps to strengthen party-government coordination. It was his second visit after becoming the party president.

    In the Friday meeting, it was also decided to expeite the implementation of various government programmes and reform initiatives.

    Headed by the chief minister, the Group will have Local Government Minister Brahm Mohindra, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Social Security Minister Aruna Chaudhary as members, along with Sidhu, the four party working presidents; Kuljit Singh Nagra, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Sangat Singh Gilzian and Pawan Goel, besides Pargat Singh.

    The group will hold weekly meetings, in consultation with other ministers, experts as may be required. It will discuss and review the progress of the various state government initiatives already under implementation, and will also suggest measures to expedite the same.

    AICC general secretary and in-charge of Punjab Affairs Harish Rawat is also expected to reach here next week.

  • BJP to contest all 117 assembly seats in Punjab: Party leader BL Santhosh

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The BJP will contest all 117 assembly seats in the 2022 Punjab polls and will form government in the state, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh said on Friday.

    Elections in the state are due early next year.

    Santhosh was here to attend a meeting of the BJP’s Punjab unit.

    He also held meetings with the party’s state leaders and others, and had a detailed discussion on Punjab politics.

    Addressing a gathering of party workers, he said that the entire opposition is trying to adopt every trick to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power and added that the BJP is the largest party in the world.

    The false propaganda of the opposition against the farm laws would soon collapse as farmers have realised that these laws will bring prosperity, Santosh said.

    Farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at Delhi’s borders against the three central laws enacted in September last year and demanding that they be withdrawn.

    Santhosh said that Modi has always been a supporter of farmers and the interests of the agriculture sector are paramount for him and his government.

    He said the Modi government has taken many steps to double the income of farmers.

    The BJP leader said that there is a wave of the party in the country and the people of Punjab also want a BJP government in the state, Santhosh said.

    He called upon party workers to take the policies of the central government to the people.

    Santhosh said the BJP will fight elections on all 117 seats on its own and will win the elections with public support in Punjab in 2022.

    BJP national vice president Saudan Singh said people are fed up with the Congress-led government in Punjab and they want to get rid of this “corrupt regime.”

    He said people want a change in the regime in Punjab and they are looking at the BJP as an alternative.

    On this occasion, party’s national general secretary Dushyant Gautam, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma and other leaders were also present.

  • Akali Dal announces alliance with BSP for Punjab Assembly elections 2022

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) formed an alliance on Saturday for the 2022 Punjab Assembly election.

    Announcing the tie-up at a press conference, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal described it as a “new day in politics of Punjab”.

    “Today, is a historic day….a big turn in Punjab’s politics,” he said in the presence of BSP General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra.

    He said the SAD and the BSP will jointly fight the 2022 polls and other elections together.

    The Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 Assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD, he said.

    SAD Chief Sukhbir Badal said out of total of 117 assembly seats, BSP will be fight on 20 seats & rest will be fought by SAD in Malwa region BSP will fight 7 seats, Magha region 5 seats & Doaba region 8 seats#Pb @Newindianxpress, @TheMornStandard, @gsvasu_TNIE, @khogensingh1
    — Harpreet Singh Bajwa (@Harpreet_TNIE) June 12, 2021

    Among the seats which the BSP will contest are Kartarpur Sahib in Jalandhar, Jalandhar-West, Jalandhar-North, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur Urban, Dasuya, Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district, Bassi Pathana, Sujanpur in Pathankot, Mohali, Amritsar North and Amritsar Central.

    The SAD earlier had a tie-up with the BJP and the Badal-led party walked out of the NDA over the farm laws issue last year.

    The BJP used to contest 23 seats under its alliance with the SAD.

  • SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to contest Punjab Assembly polls 2022 from Jalalabad

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Seeking to galvanise support for his party ahead of the next year’s Assembly polls in Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday said he will contest the elections from Jalalabad.

    The Jalalabad Assembly segment in Fazilka was earlier represented by Sukhbir Badal but after his election to the Lok Sabha from Ferozepur in 2019, he quit the seat which was wrested by the ruling Congress in the bypolls later that year.

    Addressing a rally, “Punjab Mangda Jawab” (Punjab seeks answers), in Jalalabad, Badal hit out at the Congress, alleging that it “looted” the state and reminded people the development works that were undertaken in the state when Parkash Singh Badal was the chief minister.

    “People of Jalalabad, whom do you want to contest from here, raise your hands and tell,” he asked the gathering.

    On being told that they wanted him to contest the next year’s assembly polls from the seat, Sukhbir said, “I am announcing the name of the first candidate of SAD–from Jalalabad, it will be Sukhbir Singh Badal.

    ”He told the gathering that they will have to fight this battle while he will be fighting “the battle of Punjab”.

    Earlier in his address, he said, “Poor, farmers, traders and other sections were given facilities during the SAD government as the SAD is the Punjab’s party and knows their pain and sufferings.”

    “The Congress party is not a party of Punjabis. It gets orders from the high command in Delhi. AAP is also not a Punjabi party as Arvind Kejriwal gives orders from Delhi. But we (SAD) have to live and die here,” Badal said.

    He announced that if the SAD comes to power, it will halve the power tariffs for domestic consumers and “scrap” farm laws besides announcing the MSP vegetables, fruits and milk.

  • AAP totally faceless in Punjab: CM Amarinder Singh

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party is “totally faceless” in the state and its ambition to form the next government is a “pipe dream”.

    He also said that the AAP is an “outsider” in Punjab and will remain so as long as it continues to be disconnected from the state’s ground realities.

    “With just a year to go for the state Assembly polls, the AAP could not find a face from Punjab to campaign in the municipal polls and had to drag in non-entities from Delhi for electioneering! And now they claim they’ll find a chief minister’s face that will be the pride of Punjab?” he said.

    “The AAP’s ambition to rule the state is a ‘pipe-dream’ as the party is totally faceless in Punjab,” the chief minister claimed in a statement here.

    “What can a party, which sold off the farmers’ interests by implementing one of the farm laws in Delhi back in November, know of Punjab’s pride,” Singh asked.

    Far from learning from their mistakes in the past five years, the AAP continues to blunder its way through Punjab, with absolutely no understanding or concern about the problems of its people, he claimed.

    “All they see here is another state to rule, another seat of power. They do not see the pain and the problems of our people,” said Amarinder.

    The exodus of AAP leaders and members from the party’s Punjab unit over the past 2-3 years is just a tip of the iceberg, the fact is that they have no roots here, the chief minister claimed.

    “Arvind Kejriwal’s party has no existence outside Delhi and will soon be wiped out from there too, given their shameless collusion with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), at whose behest they have been trying to befool the lakhs of farmers camping outside their city for more than two months now,” he further alleged.

    Punjab neither wants nor needs such a party, said the chief minister, adding that “neither the AAP nor its Delhi model of governance is welcome in Punjab, which is “faring better than the national capital on almost every key index of development”.

    With every passing year, Kejriwal’s government is plunging the national capital lower down into the abyss of devastation, in sharp contrast to Punjab, which has seen an unprecedented growth and development in the past four years, he claimed.

    Even the much-touted health model of the Delhi government, which showed a decline by two positions on the health Index from 2015 to 2019, was completely exposed during the COVID-19 peak crisis, he pointed out, calling upon Kejriwal to focus on managing Delhi instead of “wasting precious time and resources in trying to find a footing (or a face) in Punjab or other states”.

    What Punjab needs is a solid and sincere leadership, not a “party of loud-mouth liars and deceivers”, he added.