Majority of the exit polls conducted by various organisations and national news channels, shown at the end of polling at 5 PM on Saturday, have predicted more seats for the Congress compared to the SAD-BJP combine in the Punjab Assembly. The India TV-C Voter exit poll has predicted 62 to 68 seats for the Congress, 44 to 50 seats for SAD-BJP, 1-4 seats for the PPP, and 1-4 for the others. The Headlines Today exit poll has not ruled out a victory for the SAD-BJP, though it has given a clear edge to the Congress. This exit poll has predicted 58 to 62 seats for the Congress, and 50 to 54 seats for the SAD-BJP combine. It has given 2 to 4 seats to the PPP and the BSP, anywhere between 5 to 8 seats to the others. The News24-Today Chanakya exit poll has predicted 60 seats for the Congress and 52 seats for the SAD-BJP. It has predicted 5 seats for the others. According to the exit poll conducted by CSDS for IBN7, the SAD-BJP combine can return to power by winning anywhere between 51 to 63 seats. It has predicted 48 to 60 seats for the Congress, giving this party too a shot at power in Punjab. This exit poll has given 3 to 9 seats to the ...
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Jalandhar, January 24 (DNS)- The Congress and SAD-BJP governments in Punjab failed to properly rehabilitate the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots who migrated to this state. Supreme Court advocate HS Phoolka, who is waging a legal battle for justice to the riot victims, stated this during a visit to Jalandhar yesterday. The SC advocate also said the November ‘84 Carnage Justice Committee filed public interest litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court requesting it to constitute a monitoring committee for the anti-Sikh riots on the pattern of the same by the SC for the Gujarat riots. Accompanied by advocate Navkiran Singh and Peer Mohammad, Phoolka said 80 per cent of the anti-Sikh riot victims who stayed back in Delhi were back on their feet through hard work, whereas the case of those who had migrated to Punjab was totally reverse. The SC advocate said only 20 per cent of the riot victims who migrated to Punjab were properly rehabilitated. Responding to a query, he said every government, including the present SAD-BJP government, was responsible for not taking adequate measures to properly rehabilitate the victims. Phoolka said several anti-Sikh riot victims had not been ...
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Muktsar, January 14 (DNS)- Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today warned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to restrain Congress activists from interfering in Sikh religious affairs to prevent serious consequences. Badal was addressing a political conference of the SAD here at the Maghi mela on the occasion of Lohri. Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab BJP president Rajinder Bhandari and SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar were among those present. The Chief Minister asked Manmohan Singh to rein in those Congress leaders who were trying to disturb peace by interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikhs in view of the coming general elections to the SGPC. Such manoeuvring of the Congress was a threat to Sikh-Hindu unity in the state, he said. He alleged that the Congress had been trying to capture the SGPC through its “agents” but so far had miserably failed to achieve this because the Sikhs in general had understood its gameplan and refused to oblige it. He called upon the people not to be swayed by the false propaganda of the Congress to destabilise the SGPC through its “cronies” like Paramjit Singh Sarna. Accusing the Congress of engineering the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, ...
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Chandigarh, December 23 (Doaba News Service)- The Punjab Cabinet today refused to give sanction to the CBI to prosecute Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon for alleged corruption committed in the recruitment of 909 panchayat secretaries during the previous SAD-BJP regime when he was the Minister for Rural Development. The issue, which was taken up in the Cabinet even though the BJP ministers were not present, was discussed at length with the Cabinet considering the report of the SP (CBI) as well as the opinion of the Advocate-General’s office and the note submitted by the Chief Secretary. The Media Adviser to the CM, Harcharan Bains, said after considering all aspects it was felt that it was not a fit case for the grant of sanction under Section 197, CrPc, and the same was not granted. During the last Congress regime, the then Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had handed over the matter for investigation to the CBI following allegations that money had changed hands in the recruitment of the panchayat secretaries. According to sources, a request by the CBI seeking the state government’s consent to prosecute the Speaker had been pending with the government for more than seven ...
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