Punjab CM meets Sidhu, sets up panel for coordination ahead of polls
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Aug, 2021 02:17 PM
Chandigarh, Aug 20 (IANS) Projecting a united face just months ahead of the Assembly polls in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and once his bete noire Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday met at the former's residence near here in a cordial atmosphere and later shared their photos of 'close proximity'.
To ensure better coordination between the ruling party and the state government, and to further expedite the implementation of the government programmes and reform initiatives, the Chief Minister and state Congress president Sidhu on Friday agreed to set up a 10-member 'Strategic Policy Group', a spokesperson for the Chief Minister told IANS.
To be 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.
He said the decision was taken this morning when Sidhu, along with Nagra and Pargat, called on the Chief Minister to discuss Punjab related issues and steps to strengthen party-government coordination.
The group will hold weekly meetings, in consultation with other ministers, experts, etc., 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.
In another decision, Amarinder Singh has also assigned his Cabinet colleagues the task of being available in Punjab Congress Bhawan every day, by rotation, for meetings with MLAs and other party functionaries to discuss issues relating to their constituencies and areas and address any grievances.
One minister each will be available at the Congress Bhawan from Monday for three hours (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.), and in any case the minister deputed for a particular day is unable to make it for some reason, he/she shall arrange for a substitute in consultation with any other minister.
The arrangement will be in place five days in a week, from Monday to Friday, said the Chief Minister, adding that this will help in better coordination between his government and party functionaries in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi noted that the report of the three-member mediation panel, headed by former apex court judge Justice F.M.I. Kalifulla, failed resolve the dispute amicably.
Saravana Bhavan was charged with being "guilty of having served defective food," and prayed for a compensation of Rs. 60 lakh for "deficiency in service" and another Rs. 30 lakh for ill-health and mental agony.
Most people in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Valley, believe that Article 35A of the Constitution is going amid reports that the idea of dividing the state into three union territories of Jammu, Valley and Ladakh is also being toyed with.
Sikh devotees and Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) members participate in International 'Nagar Kirtan' (religious procession) organised to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, from Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan's Nankana Sahib district cross the Attari-Wagah border proceeding towards India, in Punjab's Attari on Aug 1, 2019.
