Chandigarh, March 16 (IANS) Days after facing humiliating defeat in Punjab from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday resigned from the post.
In a one-line resignation to party President Sonia Gandhi, Sidhu wrote, "I hereby resign as President (PPCC)."
The AAP came to power by sweeping the Assembly polls with a three-fourths majority as heavyweights fall by wayside.
A day earlier, Sonia Gandhi asked party chiefs Sidhu in Punjab, Ganesh Godiyal in Uttarakhand, Ajay Kumar Lallu in Uttar Pradesh, Girish Chodankar in Goa and Nameirakpam Loken Singh in Manipur to resign.
Sidhu, once a Chief Minister aspirant, faced defeat from his stronghold Amritsar (East) seat.
He was locked in a high-profile contest with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia but faced defeat from the hands of AAP greenhorn candidate Jeevanjyot Kaur, who defeated him by a margin of 6,750 votes.
Low-profile hygiene activist Kaur, who believed in door-to-door connect with electorate, emerged as the 'giant slayer' by showing the door to two political heavyweights -- Sidhu and Majithia, who were busy in mudslinging against each other.
In 2017, cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu not only defeated his BJP rival Rajesh Honey with a big margin of over 42,000 votes but also played a role of a game-changer for the party by winning 10 out of 11 seats in Amritsar district, once the citadel of the SAD-BJP combine.
Sidhu is a three-time Amritsar MP from the BJP. In 2014 he "sacrificed" this seat for his 'guru' Arun Jaitley. Later he was adjusted in the Rajya Sabha by the BJP but not finding a bigger role in Punjab, he quit the party and resigned from Parliament.
Suggesting Kejriwal to keep himself up to date, the minister said the state government has already executed the Punjab Anti-Red Tape Act of 2021 to promote effective administration of public affairs through simplified and trust-based procedures that shall expedite processes and make governance efficient.
A senior party functionary said that the fact that the BJP has never been in power in Punjab on its own, this time the party is leaving no stone unturned and the central leadership is regularly reviewing the poll preparedness of the state unit
The police had been conducting raids to arrest Ankit Das who is the nephew of former MP, late Akhilesh Das. A notice had been pasted at his residence residential address in Lucknow.
Channi also accompanied the martyr's nephew and his father to lit the pyre of the braveheart who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty in a gunfight with the terrorists in Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir on October 11.
Cyber Police Station Kashmir has busted a KYC fraud gang after it received multiple complaints regarding KYC frauds. The victims were receiving unsolicited calls and SMS, urging them to call on some provided numbers for updating their KYC, a statement by Cyber Police Kashmir said on Wednesday.
Manish Tewari said in a tweet ,"MHA Notification enhancing operational mandate of BSF, 15 to 50 KM's in Punjab, West Bengal & Assam transgresses upon Constitutional Public order & Policing remit of States Half of Punjab will now fall under BSF jurisdiction @CHARANJITCHANNI must oppose it ".
