Chandigarh, May 19 (IANS) Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday congratulated former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar for joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that the "right man is in the right party".
He said more leaders are likely to desert the sinking ship of the Congress in the coming days.
In a statement issued here, Amarinder Singh said the exodus from the Congress will continue and the party is headed for an imminent doom.
"Honest and upright leaders like him (Sunil) cannot breathe in the Congress anymore," he said, adding, "That space (in the Congress) has become too stifling and too suffocating."
The former Chief Minister recalled how within the span of less than a year, the Congress has completely collapsed in Punjab due to one wrong decision.
"I was the Chief Minister, while Sunil was the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President, and everything was going so well. We were headed for repeating the government just less than a year ago," he said, adding, "One wrong decision by the leadership proved suicidal for the party that is now staring at its own doom in Punjab and elsewhere in the country."
To deal with the ongoing Covid pandemic, India's civil aviation regulator on Friday extended the ban on scheduled international commercial flights till November 30.
Modi reached Rome on Friday morning where he will join other G20 leaders in discussions on global economic and health recovery from the pandemic, sustainable development, and climate change in the first in-person summit of the G20 since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.
Three females farmers from Punjab died on Thursday after a speeding truck rammed into them near the protest site at Tikri border, police said. Two other women farmers were also injured in the accident which took place at around 6 a.m.
Ahead of Diwali, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the firecracker ban order needs to be strictly followed. A bench headed by Justice M.R. Shah emphasized that it is not against any particular festival, but it is also essential to protect the right to life. The bench also comprising Justice A. S. Bopanna said: "We do not want to come in the way of enjoyment, but for enjoyment one cannot play with the fundamental right of others."
Lakhbir's family -- wife, daughter, brother and father -- went to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence but as he was unavailable, they met the staff of the Home Minister and put forth their demands.
Organised by EcoSikh and Clean Air Punjab, a citizen's collective working on the issue of air pollution, over 50 prominent citizens across the state attended the meeting.
