New Delhi/Chandigarh, Nov 10 (IANS) Amid crisis, the Congress in poll-bound Punjab is all set to welcome an MLA from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who has resigned from the party.
AAP is one of the main challengers of the Congress in the state.
After a late night meeting on Tuesday with Congress leaders Harish Chaudhary and Navjot Singh Sidhu, AAP MLA from Bathinda Rural Rupinder Kaur Ruby quit the party and tweeted: "Mr.@ArvindKejriwal ji Convener, AAP & @BhagwantMann ji this is hereby inform u that I am resigning with immediate effect from the membership of Aam Aadmi Party. Please accept my resignation. Thx Rupinder Kaur Ruby.(MLA Bti.rural)"
The Congress, which is reeling under infighting between factions, got a slight relief on Tuesday after the Congress, giving in to Sidhu's pressure, accepted the resignation of Advocate General A.P.S. Deol -- a decision that is being seen in political circles as lessening the "friction" between Chief Minister Charanjit Channi and Congress state chief Navjot Sidhu.
Sidhu has been demanding the replacement of Deol, who had represented former Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini in cases related to the 2015 sacrilege and subsequent police firing on protesters.
Earlier, Sidhu had tweeted: "Technically, any lawyer can become AG and any IPS officer can become DG but if we talk about morals and ethics of government, as we promised to the people of Punjab that we will give justice to them in sacrilege cases."
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) to cancel or revisit all the "one-sided" pacts with private companies that are not contractually obligated to supply sufficient power to meet the state's peak demand during the paddy sowing and summer season.
The new leadership team, led by state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, had called on the Chief Minister and submitted a letter listing out some issues as needing urgent settlement.
The bodies of Khare Besra, 75 and his wife Curki Devi, 70, were recovered from Baragarda jungle of Giridih. The old couple, residents of Kumharlalo panchayat, had gone into the jungle on Saturday but had not returned and other villagers had filed a missing report with police.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review the demands of the striking employees, he expressed concern over their continued agitation, which has severely impacted the functioning of various state government departments.
The opposition has been continuously attacking the government after it told the Parliament on July 20 that states have not reported any death due to oxygen during the second wave.
