Muktsar (Punjab) [India], February 20 (ANI): Shiromani Akali Dal leader chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is contesting from Jalalabad in Punjab Assembly elections, said that the SAD-BSP alliance will make a clean sweep in the state and claimed that the alliance will win over 80 seats in the polls.

Chandigarh Jan 26 PTI SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday announced that senior party leader and his brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia will also fight the state assembly elections from Amritsar East against Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu Sukhbir Badal also announced the candidature of his 94-year-old father and five-time state Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the Lambi assembly seat The SAD chief made the twin announcements while talking to reporters in Amritsar Majithia will ensure that Sidhu would forfeit his security deposit said Badal He had already been announced as the SAD candidate from the Majitha seat earlier Booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act last month Majithia has been trying to secure an anticipatory bail from courts Majithia was denied relief by the Punjab and Haryana High court early this week but was given three-day protection from arrest to move the Supreme Court to challenge the high court order and seek the reprieve With the announcement of candidates for two more seats the SAD has declared candidates on all 97 seats on which it is going to contest the February 20 assembly polls The SAD has tied up with the BSP for the coming elections According to the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties the BSP will field candidates on 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab while the rest will be contested by the Shiromani Akali Dal PTI CHS VSD RAX RAX

Ludhiana Jan 24 PTI Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Monday said a senior doctor of the hospital where he was admitted The doctor said the five-time chief minister was stable Dr Rajesh Mahajan incharge of the team of doctors attending to Badal said the samples of the 94-year-old Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch was sent to the Patiala lab for testing and he tested positive for the Omicron variant Badal is having sore throat slight cough and mild fever but he is stable Mahajan added Badal was admitted to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital last week when he tested positive for coronavirus PTI COR CHS CK

Ludhiana Jan 19 PTI Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19 The 94-year-old Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch has been admitted to Dayanand Medical College Hospital DMCH here DMCH Medical Superintendent Dr Sandeep Sharma said Badal tested positive for coronavirus He is stable Sharma added PTI COR CHS SUN AQS AQS

Amritsar Dec 18 PTI A man hailing from Uttar Pradesh was beaten to death after he allegedly attempted to commit sacrilege inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Saturday evening The incident drew sharp reactions from political leaders with Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi ordering a probe into it The incident took place when the man jumped golden grills inside the sanctum sanctorum picked a sword and reached near the place where a Sikh priest was reciting the holy Guru Granth Sahib The man was caught by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee SGPC task force members When he was being taken to the SGPC office angry crowd thrashed him badly that later led to his death Deputy Commissioner of Police P S Bhandal said the man hailing from UP could be around 25 to 30 years of age and his antecedents are being verified All CCTV cameras are being checked to know when he entered the Golden Temple and how many people were with him After the incident a large number of Sikh devotees and various Sikh outfits slammed the SGPC for its laxity A heavy police force has been deployed around the SGPC complex at Teja Singh Samundri Hall to maintain law and order Several political leaders condemned the alleged sacrilege attempt at the Golden Temple Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi ordered a probe into the matter CM CharanjitChanni strongly condemned the most unfortunate and heinous act to attempt sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Harimandir Sahib during the path of Sri Rehras Sahib according to a tweet by the Chief Ministers Office CM directed state police authorities to thoroughly probe into entire matter to zero in at the underlying motive and real conspirators behind this dastardly act CM also called SGPC president and assured his governments full support and cooperation to get into the bottom of the case said another tweet Akali stalwart and five-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal described it as a heinous attempt which was deeply shocking and exceedingly painful Badal said the crime was too reprehensible for words and it has caused deep anguish and outrage in the minds of the Sikh masses all over the world Badal said it was unbelievable that such a painful and brazen crime could be committed at the holiest shrine of humanity by a single individual adding that the possibility of a deep-rooted conspiracy behind it cannot be ruled out He said the whole conspiracy needs to be probed exposed and those behind it be given exemplary punishment Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too condemned the incident and said the culprit should be strictly punished Everybody is in shock This could be a big conspiracy The culprits should get the harshest punishment said Kejriwal in a tweet Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal expressed shock and disbelief at the incident In a statement here Sukhbir Badal said it is impossible to believe that this could be the act of just one person There is clearly a deep-rooted conspiracy behind it he said The former deputy CM said there seems to be a conspiracy to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state He criticised the state government saying that there were strong indications of such a conspiracy was being hatched Only the other day there was a shocking incident of gutka sahib holy book being thrown into the holy sarovar After that the state agencies could not have been unaware of a deep-rooted conspiracy that led to todays shocking sequence of events he said But no one did anything nor took any steps to prevent such a heinous crime from happening What are the intelligence agencies doing he asked BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa also condemned the incident and asked the Punjab government to unearth the conspiracy behind it In a statement Sirsa said the incident has sent shock waves throughout the world as never in the history of Darbar Sahib such an attempt has been made He said the failure of the Congress government in solving previous sacrilege cases has resulted in repeat of such incidents He said it should also be probed why such incidents occur at the time when elections are round the corner Congress MP Preneet Kaur also expressed deep shock over the incident Deeply shocked and appalled by the attempted beadbi of Sri Guru Granth Sahib at Sri Darbar Sahib today The matter should be probed properly to ascertain the real culprits behind this brazen attempt she tweeted Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma also condemned the incident Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh said the incident has caused spiritual pain to Sikhs all over the world It is a matter of great sorrow that such an incident took place at Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib from where the message of universal communion is conveyed to all mankind he said PTI JMS CHS VSD RDK RDK