Punjab

Post Simranjit Singh Mann's remark, his son Iman Singh Mann, patron of the Youth wing of SAD(A), on Wednesday demanded removal of Bhagat Singh's photograph from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) managed Central Sikh Museum. Responding to Iman Singh Mann's demand, politician Mandeep Singh Manna on Thursday even got the hoardings of Shaheed Bhagat Singh displayed across the city praising his heroic acts.

In a letter marked to the Prime Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah and Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar, Mann said, "It is ironical that the state which has most successfully implemented MSP since the initiation of this scheme has been kept out the committee."

The other high-profile politician in the jail is Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, the brother-in-law of MP Sukhbir Badal. A Patiala district court on Thursday upheld the two-year jail term of Mehndi, who in 2018 was sentenced for a 2003 human trafficking case.

The petition, filed by advocate Jagmohan Singh Bhatti, contended that the appointment was illegal, arbitrary and in exercise of "non-existent" laws of the Central and state governments. It also argued that the appointment of Chadha was in violation of the Constitution as he is an "outsider and not a part of the state Legislative Assembly".

"Din Shagna Da Chadyaa (the auspicious day has come (for her wedding)," would-be bride Gurpreet Kaur tweeted, by posting her photo. In her Twitter account, she posted a picture of Jangir Kaur, 80, from Barnala, who turned into poster women of the farmers' agitation against three Central farm laws and had received lots of praise on the social media.

The paperless Budget, with focus on agriculture, education and health, proposed to earn Rs 95,378.28 crore this fiscal, against an expenditure of Rs 1,55,859.78 crore. This means a revenue deficit of Rs 12,553.80 crore. It proposed Rs 20,122 crore to be spent on the payment of interest on state's loans. However, the total debt servicing will take Rs 36,068.67 crore of the state's earnings.

Gurmail Singh, who is the AAP's Sangrur district in-charge, lost the seat, a stronghold of now Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, to Shiromani Akali Dal-Amritsar candidate Simranjit Singh Mann by a margin of over 5,800 votes. Simranjit Mann was last elected from the same seat in 1999. The bypoll was held as Bhagwant Mann resigned after he was elected as an MLA in the March Assembly elections and became the Chief Minister.

Lok Sabha bypolls were held in two seats of Uttar Pradesh -- Rampur and Azamgarh -- and one seat of Punjab. Initial trends show that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was leading in Sangrur and the Samajwadi Party (SP) was ahead in Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats at 10 a.m. The BJP was trailing in the Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency in Delhi. The counting of votes stated at 8 a.m. under multi-layer security and postal ballots were counted first.

The Chief Minister, while acceding to the request of Balkar Singh Sidhu, the father of slain singer, said the state government will be requesting the Chief Justice of the High Court to get the case enquired into by a sitting judge. Mann said the state government will ensure full cooperation to this enquiry commission, including roping in of any of the central agencies like National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The Chief Minister said the health minister was involved in corruption cases and they had proof of that. The minister is a legislator from the Mansa Assembly. He was the first minister representing the Assembly as a Cabinet minister in over three decades.