Punjab

Electors could be seen reaching polling stations even before voting started at 8 a.m. A total of 16.21 lakh voters will cast their ballots till 6 p.m. to decide the fate of 19 candidates, including four women. Around 8,000 security personnel have been deployed. The counting will take place on Saturday.

"The Jalandhar by-election will set tone for the 2024 general elections in Punjab which are very crucial for the country's future", he said while addressing a public meeting here. The former Chief Minister maintained that the country needed Modi as the Prime Minister for five more years at least to further strengthen and consolidate its position at global and domestic level.

In a statement here, the Akali Dal chief also asked both the Centre and the Punjab governments to come clean on doubts being expressed over the official version of sensitive events, including the so-called manhunt launched by the police, its dubious climax as well as the heinous acts of sacrilege happening one after the other in recent times.

Badal is survived by his son and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, and his Member of Parliament daughter Parneet Kaur. A media bulletin from the Fortis Hospital said that Parkash Singh Badal was admitted to the hospital on April 16 with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma. He was shifted to the medical ICU on April 18 as his respiratory condition worsened.

"India has faced several domestic and international challenges successfully under Modi's leadership and the people realised that," he said, while asserting that the BJP was on a strong footing because of the performance of the Central government. "We are reaching out to people on the basis of the performance of the BJP government at the Centre," Amarinder Singh said.

After taking charge of 'Waris Punjab De' or "the heirs of Punjab" - floated by lawyer-actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu in 2021, he was trying to position himself as a new fulcrum for the Panthic cause by calling on the youth to "fight for the freedom" of the Panth. Sidhu, one of the accused in the January 26, 2021 Red Fort violence, had died in a road accident near Haryana's Sonepat in February 2022.

Hours after the arrest of the Waris Punjab De chief after over one month of chase by the police, Mann said those who break the law will be brought to justice and vowed strict action against Amritpal Singh. I gave instructions to Punjab Police that the sanctity of Guru Granth Sahib should not be compromised.

"It is an attempt to distract attention of the people from the brazen incompetence and failures of the ruling party to honour its commitments to Punjabis," said Badal. The Akali Dal chief shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention for repeal of these "black laws" in the light of experience and their adverse impact on the country's image as the world's largest democracy.

Exposing the fraud here, senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithja also accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Cheema of lying while claiming a 41 per cent increase in the Excise revenue while asserting that the increase was only 10.26 per cent.

"This is to inform everyone that Sardar Navjot Singh Sidhu will be released from Patiala Jail tomorrow. (As informed by the concerned authorities)," a tweet from Sidhu's handle said on Friday. However, officials of the central jail have not confirmed his release prematurely.