Chandigarh Feb 18 PTI The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday appealed to the people of Punjab to give the party-led alliance a clear majority for peace and prosperity in the state which goes to the polls on Sunday Union Minister and the partys Punjab affairs in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said his party has come with a vision and agenda for the development of Punjab unlike the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party which the saffron party claimed are pursuing a divisive agenda Shekhawat along with the state BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma said the BJP was fighting the Punjab elections as a major partner for the first time while earlier it used to contest only 23 seats He appealed to the people to give the BJP-led alliance a clear majority for Punjabs peace and prosperity The BJP which had an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal earlier used to fight 23 of the 117 seats while the remaining were contested by the SAD The SAD led by Sukhbir Singh Badal however broke ties with the saffron party over the farm laws issue in 2020 The BJP is contesting the February 20 polls in alliance with former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led SAD Sanyukt On the last day of the poll campaign Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also participated in a roadshow taken out by Amarinder Singh in Patiala People want to create a Nava Punjab and only the BJP-led alliance can bring all-round progress in the state Rajnath Singh later said Shekhawat cautioned against the hidden and divisive agenda of the Congress party In an official statement Shekhawat said the state of affairs in the Congress was so anarchic that it even forgot to release its manifesto till the last day and it only released it when it was pointed out by the media He said there is a vertical split in the Congress with PCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi pulling in diametrically opposite directions The BJP leader also targeted the AAP referring to allegations levelled by former AAP leader Kumar Vishwas He also said not only Kumar Vishwas but other senior colleagues of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal too had from time to time revealed his Kejriwals agenda to pursue personal ambitions Shekhawat said the Punjabis have always rejected any sectarian divisive and extremist agenda with the spirit of Punjabiyat and they will reject it this time also Appealing people to vote for the BJP-led alliance for a clear majority Shekhawat said while other parties pursued divisive agenda the BJP believed in peace progress and social harmony with sabka sath sabka vikas inclusive growth of all You have given chance to the Congress and the Akalis now give us one chance he appealed to Punjabis while clarifying that although the BJP was an ally of the Akalis earlier being a junior partner it had only a limited role then PTI SUN VSD RAX RAX

Chandigarh Dec 28 PTI PTI Haryana on Tuesday reported one Covid-related death and 126 new infections pushing the total fatality count to 10063 and the case tally to 772844 in the state According to the Health Departments daily bulletin the death was reported from Kurukshetra district The bulletin said two fresh cases of Omicron variant of the infection were detected in the state on Tuesday taking the total tally of such cases to fourteen Seven Omicron patients however have been discharged The fresh Covid cases tally meanwhile crossed the 100-mark in the last 24 hours after a gap of a few months Gurugram continued to witness a surge in the Covid-19 cases with 76 fresh Covid cases reported in the district on Tuesday Faridabad and Ambala reported 22 and 12 cases respectively The total active cases in the state have risen nearly three-fold during the past week While the active cases in the state on December 21 were 234 they rose to 627 on December 28 The recovery rate was 9861 per cent the bulletin said PTI SUN VSD RAX RAX

Chandigarh Nov 25 PTI High drama unfolded on Thursday during the voting on a no-confidence against Patiala Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu with Punjab Minister Brahm Mohindra claiming that the citys municipal corporation chief has been suspended after losing the trust vote Rejecting Mohindras claim that the mayor has been suspended after losing the confidence by 11 votes Bittu a protg of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he needed only 21 votes and he had easily achieved the number needed Mohindra had claimed that Bittu had lost the motion after securing merely 25 votes in favour and 36 against him I am not a new mayor being elected who needed the number of 31 votes of councillors Under the no-confidence motion which was brought I needed one-third which I got Bittu told reporters in Patiala Mohindra however claimed the Patiala Municipal Corporation mayor had failed to prove the majority It is a victory of elected councillors Mayor has been suspended since he lost the confidence vote Mohindra said Senior Deputy Mayor Yoginderpal Singh Yogi will hold the charge of the mayors post till a new mayor is elected Mohindra said Bittus victory was seen as crucial for Amarinder Singh with Patiala being his bastion However while the majority of Congress councillors had earlier secured tickets on recommendations of Patiala MP and Amarinders wife Preneet Kaur the fact that 36 voted against Bittu showed that they have shifted their loyalties The Patiala MC has a House with a total strength of 63 which includes three sitting legislators Two members abstained from voting There was high drama during the voting process in Patiala There were unruly scenes inside the Patiala Municipal Corporation during the voting on the no-confidence motion with some councillors supporting Bittu alleging that some of them were dragged by some unknown people to prevent them from casting their votes A week ago majority councillors had sent a requisition to the mayor expressing their no-confidence after which Bittu had decided to hold a general house meeting on Thursday to prove his majority Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was also present His convoy was stopped well before the Patiala MC office but he walked to the building His daughter Jai Inder Kaur however was spotted sitting on stairs outside the main entrance of the Patiala MC office after being refused entry by the officials concerned Amarinder Singh who has floated his own outfit after his unceremonious exit as Punjab chief minister alleged that despite criminal intimidation and arm twisting of councillors the state government could not win the vote of no confidence against Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu Condemning the alleged high handedness and the brutal use of state machinery by the state government just to remove the mayor the former chief minister cautioned officers against blindly following the diktats of the government as they will be held accountable by law For passing the vote of no confidence to remove a mayor there should be two-third support against the motion Despite knowing that they were short of numbers they tried to forcibly and illegally remove the mayor he said in a statement later He also pointed out that according to the rules a mayor cannot be removed by a simple majority The former chief minister congratulated the councillors who firmly stood their ground despite criminal intimidation by the government He regretted that the government was trying to use the state machinery including the police to remove a legally elected mayor by illegal means Capt Amarinder Singh asserted that he will use all the legal and constitutional means available to prevent the illegal action of the government This government is there for just a few weeks more but you have a long career ahead So dont invite the wrath of law and strictures and blemish your careers he advised the officers PTI SUN VSD RAX RAX

Chandigarh Nov 24 PTI Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of those who died of COVID-19 saying mere Rs 50000 compensation is insufficient Channi wrote to Prime Minister Modi saying his government is ready to contribute 25 per cent of the ex gratia amlount Wrote a letter to PMnarendramodi ji urged him to implement his previous order of disbursing ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of those who died of Covid-19 I feel mere Rs 50000 compensation is insufficient Channi tweeted Wednesday evening tagging his letter to Modi In his tweet Channi mentioned that my government is ready to contribute 25 per cent share under this scheme We demand that the central government implement its earlier order notified on date 14th March 2020 33-42020-NDM-1 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs where the government committed to disburse ex gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh per deceased Channi said in his letter to the PM The Central government later revised this notification and reduced the ex gratia payment to Rs 50000 he added We feel at such times of distress it is imperative that special consideration should be made to fulfil the earlier commitment of Rs 4 lakh by the government Channi wrote He mentioned that we understand that State Disaster Response Fund norms require 75 per cent of the Rs 4 lakh which is Rs 3 lakh to be paid by the central government and remaining 25 per cent which is Rs 1 lakh to be the share of the state We commit to uphold the state share of the Rs 4 lakh ex gratia payment he said in his letter He said as a welfare state it is our responsibility to look after our citizens in distress Our state has started many welfare schemes to help people tide through the difficult times We expect that the central government will also share this responsibility he wrote On September 11 2021 the Government of India had submitted a detailed affidavit in the Supreme Court mentioning that it will pay Rs 50000 as ex gratia to the families of those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic through the SDRF State Disaster Response Fund Under the NDMA National Disaster Management Authority the compensation amount is shared by the Centre and the state in 75 percent -- 25 per cent ratio respectively Channi wrote in his letter He mentioned that COVID-19 pandemic has heavily affected the majority of the population in this country and many people have died untimely while businesses have shut down and people have been forced to migrate Families have lost their earning members and the out-of-pocket treatment expenses incurred in private hospitals during the pandemic have brought them to the streets Families have lost all their savings and are in huge debts Channi further wrote He said at such a difficult time the modest amount of Rs 50000 as ex gratia compensation is insufficient The government in its response to the Supreme Court has argued that giving Rs 4 lakh compensation would leave the state with insufficient capital to deal with Covid-19 While the central government continues to collect taxes through rising petrol prices and provide tax relaxation to corporates but denied such relief to citizens wrote Channi Notably earlier in the day former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi demanded that the government provide credible data on Covid deaths in the country and pay a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to families of those who lost their lives due to coronavirus PTI SUN VSD RAX RAX

Chandigarh Sep 29 PTI Haryana reported no Covid-related death even though it added sixteen new infections Wednesday pushing the total case count to 770863 According to the Health Departments daily bulletin the death toll remained unchanged at 9874 Meanwhile among the districts seven cases were reported from Gurgaon district The total active cases in the state were 105 while the overall recoveries were 760711 The recovery rate was 9868 per cent the bulletin said PTI SUN VSD RAX RAX

Chandigarh Sep 22 PTI The Haryana government on Wednesday set up a Commission of Inquiry headed by a retired high court judge to probe into the police lathi-charge last month at a group of farmers protesting against the three central farm laws The judicial probe panel will be headed by Justice Retd Somnath Aggarwal a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court a state government statement said The Commission of Inquiry will probe into the sequence of August 28 events in which about 10 protesters were hurt in the clash with the police in Karnal when they tried to march towards the venue of a BJP meeting While ordering the lathi charge the then Karnal SDM Ayush Sinha a 2018-batch IAS officer was caught on tape purportedly telling policemen to break the heads of farmers if they cross the line Following the incident farmers had been demanding suspension of Sinha who was on September 2 transferred out of Karnal and posted as additional secretary of Citizen Resources Information Department of Haryana The decision to set up the Commission of Inquiry to probe into the August 28 lathi charge at Bastara Toll Plaza was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar The government set up the probe panel in a bid to ensure fair and transparent inquiry to ascertain the sequence of events leading to incidents at Bastara Toll Plaza in Karnal on August 28 an official statement said here The Commission of Inquiry will inquire into the circumstances leading up to and including the action by the police at Karnal on August 28 and the use of force against the demonstrators the statement said The Commission will also identify persons responsible for the said situation and will further inquire into the role of IAS officer Ayush Sinha the then sub-divisional magistrate Karnal in the action by the police on August 28 it said The commission will complete the probe and submit its report to the state government within a month The Haryana government had earlier this month ordered a magisterial probe into last months clash between farmers and police and had sent the allegedly erring IAS officer on leave Following this farmers had called off their sit-in outside the Karnal district headquarters Haryana Additional Chief Secretary Devender Singh had earlier said the probe will be conducted by a retired judge and will be completed within a month Former SDM Ayush Sinha will remain on leave during the time he had said PTI SUN VSD RAX RAX