Chandigarh Oct 30 PTI BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Saturday asked Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Congress state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu to clarify if they have endorsed naming Jagdish Tytler as a permanent invitee to the Delhi Congress new executive committeeThe Aam Aadmi Party AAP and the Shiromani Akali Dal SAD also lodged a strong protest over the issueTytlers name had earlier figured in connection with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 In a statement issued here BJP national general secretary Chugh said Tytler has been named as one of the key Congress leaders in Delhi but he Kamal Nath and Sajjan Kumar continue to be the blue-eyed boys of the party in spite of the fact that their role in the riots against Sikhs has been always highlighted by many witnesses Sidhu had confessed that he barely escaped the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and now he feels proud of being a leader of the Congress he saidChugh said Sikh leaders including Channi and Sidhu owe an explanation to the people of Punjab for being part of the Congress AAP MLA Baljinder Kaur also asked Channi and Sidhu to clarify their standIn a joint statement Kaur and party spokesperson Manwinder Singh Giaspura said that the Congress has not done justice to the Sikhs but when will it stop rubbing salt into the wounds of the 1984 massacreThis decision of the Congress high command has once again exposed the mindset of the Congress about the 1984 massacre anti-Sikh riots Giaspura saidIt is clear that the Congress can never give justice to the Sikhs although the people of Punjab believed in the Congress many times after 1984 But the Congress has always betrayed the Sikhs and the Punjabis the AAP spokesperson said The AAP leaders said that Channi and Sidhu along with all Congress leaders should explain their stand on the honour bestowed on Tytler SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema asked the Punjab chief minister to tell Punjabis why he gave his consent for the appointment of Tytler to a prestigious Congress panel He said that such acts amounted to sprinkling salt on the festering wounds of the Sikh communityIt is even more shocking that the chief minister has not objected to the appointment till now Cheema saidThis proves that Channi does not have any moral courage and is even ready to sell off the interests of the Sikh community as well as Punjabis at large to save his chair Punjabis will not forget this betrayal he said Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur also strongly objected to the Congress partys moveIt is an act that has hurt the sentiments of Sikhs she said in a statementShe also questioned the Congress appointment of Tytler as the partys permanent inviteeAhead of the civic body polls in the national capital early next year theDelhi Congress on Thursday got its new executive committee Congress national general secretary KC Venugopal in a statement had said Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the formation of the executive committee The list of permanent invitees included senior leaders JP Agarwal Ajay Maken Kapil Sibal Janardan Dwivedi Arvinder Singh Lovely Subhash Chopra and Tytler PTI CHS VSD ANB ANB

Chandigarh Oct 30 PTI BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Saturday asked Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Congress state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu to clarify if they have endorsed naming Jagdish Tytler as a permanent invitee to the Delhi Congress new executive committeeTytlers name had earlier figured in connection with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984In a statement issued here BJP national general secretary Chugh said Tytler has been named as one of the key Congress leaders in Delhi but he Kamal Nath and Sajjan Kumar continue to be the blue-eyed boys of the party in spite of the fact that their role in the riots against Sikhs has been always highlighted by many witnesses Sidhu had confessed that he barely escaped the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and now he feels proud of being a leader of the Congress he saidChugh said Sikh leaders including Channi and Sidhu owe an explanation to the people of Punjab for being part of the CongressAhead of the civic body polls in the national capital early next year the Delhi Congress on Thursday got its new executive committeeCongress national general secretary KC Venugopal in a statement had said Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the formation of the executive committeeThe list of permanent invitees included senior leaders JP Agarwal Ajay Maken Kapil Sibal Janardan Dwivedi Arvinder Singh Lovely Subhash Chopra and Tytler PTI CHS VSD ANB ANB

Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday met Punjab Pradesh Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in the presence of AICC observer Harish Chaudhary here. Cabinet minister Pargat Singh, who is also general secretary (organisation), PPCC, was present in the meeting that took place at guest house of Punjab Raj Bhavan here. The meeting was a follow-up of Sidhu’s meeting with AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat on October 14, followed by a meeting with party leader Rahul Gandhi.

Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday met Punjab Pradesh Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in the presence of AICC observer Harish Chaudhary here. Cabinet minister Pargat Singh, who is also general secretary (organisation), PPCC, was present in the meeting that took place at guest house of Punjab Raj Bhavan here. The meeting was a follow-up of Sidhu’s meeting with AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat on October 14, followed by a meeting with party leader Rahul Gandhi.

Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday met Punjab Pradesh Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in the presence of AICC observer Harish Chaudhary here. Cabinet minister Pargat Singh, who is also general secretary (organisation), PPCC, was present in the meeting that took place at guest house of Punjab Raj Bhavan here. The meeting was a follow-up of Sidhu’s meeting with AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat on October 14, followed by a meeting with party leader Rahul Gandhi.

A day after the sudden exit of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the Punjab Congress chief, CM Charanjit Singh Channi said that the state party leaders should sit down and talk about the ongoing crisis. Channi added that he has also spoken to the miffed leader on Wednesday Sidhu’s resignation was followed by a flurry of […]

Chandigarh Sep 22 PTI Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday paid obeisance at the Golden Temple in AmritsarIt was his first visit to the holy city after becoming the chief ministerChanni was accompanied by his two deputies Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and O P Soni and state Congress chief Navjot Singh SidhuThey also visited Durgiana templeLater Channi Randhawa Soni and Sidhu went to a famous tea stall where they had a cuppaChanni his two deputies and Sidhu reached Amritsar on Tuesday night from Delhi where they had gone to discuss the expansion of the new state Cabinet with the partys central leadership PTI CHS VSD RHL

New Delhi Sep 20 PTI The Congress on Monday said it will fight Punjab elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and both will be our faces The Congress went into damage control after it came under attack from various parties over the statement of its general secretary in-charge for Punjab Harish Rawat that the party would go to polls with Navjot Singh Sidhu as it face Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the next Punjab assembly elections will be fought under the leadership of both Channi and Sidhu and attacked the BJP Akali Dal BSP and Aam Aadmi Party for insulting a Dalit chief minister He also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership why they had not named any Dalit as their chief minister and why they and other leaders of BSP AAP and Akali Dal were undermining the young Congress Dalit leader Our faces will be Charanjit Singh Channi and Navjot Singh Sidhu as also ordinary Congress workers and leaders who will be supporting them If anybody says one or the other will be the face intentionally or otherwise it is being misinterpreted by the media he told reporters I want to tell all our friends in the media please you also do not grudge the young Dalit leader and the role assigned him as chief minister of Punjab He will be our face along with Navjot Singh Sidhu which is natural he said alleging that Rawats statement has been misinterpreted We urge the BJP Akali Dal BSP and AAP to stop insulting Dalits and spread lies about them Surjewala also said He alleged that the BJP SAD AAP and BSP have unwarrantedly shamelessly and regrettably attacked the candidature of Channi May I ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi that you have been in power for seven long years and in a dozen states have you ever appointed a Dalit as chief minister of BJP No he said adding that Channi is the only Dalit chief minister sworn in by the Congress party He claimed that the other two chief ministers of Congress are from backward classes in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where social justice has been ensured by the party We have a prime minister who only speaks and we have the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who deliver That is the principal difference We would urge Narendra Modi ji J P Nadda Sukhbir Singh Badal Arvind Kejriwal and Mayawati ji to not grudge the rightful due of a Dalits son who is today the chief minister of Punjab and instead of shamelessly criticising him they should hail his elevation the Congress leader said Various parties had attacked the Congress after Rawats remarks saying the grand old party is only doing tokenism It would have been better had Channi been appointed the chief minister earlier His appointment as CM a few months ahead of Punjab assembly elections looks like a poll gimmick BSP chief Mayawati said I also came to know from the media that the next assembly polls in Punjab would be contested under leadership of a non-Dalit This means that the Congress still does not fully trust Dalits she claimed The Congress also come under attack from within with its former PCC chief Sunil Jakhar questioning Rawat over his statement On the swearing-in day of Charnjit Channi as chief minister Rawats statement that elections will be fought under Sidhu is baffling Its likely to undermine CMs authority but also negate the very raison dtre of his selection for this position he tweeted Hours later Surjewala said Channi is the chief minister and Sidhu is the organisation head of the Congress in Punjab and the next elections will be fought under both of them He claimed that the Congress has carved out a new chapter in Indias history with the swearing in of the first Dalit chief minister of Punjab Its a matter of great pride for every young and old Congress worker and every poor and disadvantaged person and Dalit of India that this singular decision will fortify social justice foundations in this country Surjewala said The Congress leader said Rahul Gandhi has always stated that he believes the doors of echelons of power need to be opened for the poorest of the poor and they must lead by the front and not be bystanders in the gallery and that is what the Congress has proved A person from the Dalit community who rose from the most humble ranks did manual labour proudly with his father has today become the chief minister of Punjab he claimed This proves that the Congress party has space for everyone whoever you are wherever you come from the doors will always be open he said Surjewala also said the new chief minister and two deputy CMs have already sat down to take historical decisions These decisions include the Congress already waiving domestic electricity bills of the poor for up to 200 units Those living in small houses have been allowed the waiver of drinking water and sewerage bills he added In villages too water bills have been waived after power bills he said Our government will take historic decisions to ensure that social justice equality and equanimity between all classes of people is restored totally he claimed Surjewala also thanked Amarinder Singh saying he ably led the Congress government The magnanimity with which Singh came forward and congratulated and supported Channi proves his maturity as also establishes that we will continue to get his guidance and his experience in the days to come he saidPTI SKC AAR AAR