Chandigarh, February 5 (Doaba News Service) The Punjab BJP today decided in favour of a youthful leadership to take the party into the next Assembly elections in two years’ time by “electing” party general secretary Ashwani Sharma as its president. The new president, whose election was said to be “unopposed” by central observer Ram Lal Kovind, who said that all 43 delegates had seconded his candidature, set out to emulate BJP president Nitin Gadkari and said his actions would speak louder than words. Ashwani Sharma, who preferred not to speak about contentious issues only reminding mediapersons that he may be new to them but was 21 years old in the BJP, was quite frank with his party cadres. In this speech after being elected to the top post, Sharma said, “I admit there have been shortcomings in the working of the party in the past three years”. He said the party would have to reach out to the people in the next two years to win their confidence. The new state president also made it known that he did not like politics revolving around photo opportunities. “I would rather like to live in the hearts of party men”, he said while advising legislators and ...
Read Full Story

Amritsar, January 26 (Doaba News Service)- Perturbed over the lax attitude of the Centre towards the upgradation and expansion of the Rajasansi International Airport at Amritsar and non-implementation of the recommendations made by the high-powered four-member committee of MPs, Amritsar MP Navjot Sidhu has said he would raise the matter in the next session of the Lok Sabha. The four-member panel of MPs, headed by Union Minister MS Gill, comprised of Navjot Sidhu, Tarlochan Singh and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. It had made a number of recommendations regarding the upgradation of the airport in April last year. But, according to Sidhu, most of the recommendations were yet to be implemented. “I am not satisfied with the work done so far. I have now resolved to raise the issue in the next session of Parliament and will take up the matter personally with Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel,” said ...
Read Full Story

Jalandhar, January 19 (DNS)- BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu today said he was prepared for a confrontation with the Union Government which was deliberately strangling Punjab by excluding it from national development projects. Speaking to The Tribune, Sidhu said the Centre’s attitude towards the state was evident from the way it had been treated on the issues of the freight rail corridor, industrial corridor, railway connectivity, the Amritsar heritage project and other major projects. The state had also not been included in the Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor on which investment of Rs 4,00,000 lakh would be made. Nor was there was a proposal to extend the freight rail corridor up to Amritsar. Keeping in view the contiguity factor, Punjab should have been included in the Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor in which Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan, UP, Delhi and Haryana had been included. Punjab was yet to be linked to the national gas grid, he said. The state could not survive on agriculture for centuries and its economy required to be modernised by establishing a sizeable manufacturing sector. He said in the absence of a freight corridor, the export of various commodities ...
Read Full Story