Jalandhar, January 24
Aam Aadmi Party Delhi MLA and co-incharge of AAP Punjab Raghav Chaddha said on Sunday that Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh knew about the farm laws and was privy to the terms of reference of the high-powered committee constitutes to make and discuss the laws in August 2019, yet he remained silent for a year and did not share the information with the state peasantry.
Chadha also said the chief minister knew about the terms of reference clearly mentioned in the office memorandum, which he claimed would mean large scale privatisation and corporatisation of agriculture in the country.
Chadha, who claimed he was sharing information received by his party through an RTI, said Punjab chief minister didn’t oppose the farm laws well in time, when they could have been withdrawn.
Updated Jan 13, 2021 | 11:26 IST
Founded in 2007, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is a separatist organisation operating out of the United States that calls for the secession of Punjab – as a homeland for Sikhs – from India. Punjab farmers protesting against the recently-enacted farm laws. | Photo Credit: PTI
Key Highlights
The outfit has previously organised a Referendum 2020 with a goal to “liberate Punjab from Indian occupation”
Polling for the referendum, as per its website, was expected to take place in November 2020 across several cities in North America, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Malaysia, Philippines, Kenya, Singapore and the Middle East
In July 2019, the Indian government placed a ban on SFJ under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
Priyanka call to Azad broke ice, brought Sonia, letter writers to discussion table
Sources said Priyanka spoke to Azad after she returned from Shimla. A meeting between her and Azad and Sharma followed. Updated: December 22, 2020 8:20:57 am
In a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Priyanka said she was disturbed seeing the images from Lalitpur. (File)
It was a call from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Ghulam Nabi Azad which broke the ice in the Congress and brought the core team of the group of 23 leaders, who had been demanding sweeping reforms within the party, and Congress president Sonia Gandhi along with other senior leaders to a discussion table to defuse the tension.
: Tuesday, December 22, 2020, 2:30 AM IST
All that the 5-hr Congress meeting achieved was to clear the way for Rahul s anointment as party chief
PTI
The half-hearted bid for reconciliation undertaken by the Gandhis ahead of the formal anointment of a de jure President of the Indian National Congress next April is unlikely to rid the party of its inherent ills. A group of senior Congress leaders met at the house of Sonia Gandhi last Saturday.
Among the attendees were only a select number from the group of 23 senior leaders who had written to the interim party chief, drawing attention to the drift in the party affairs. The omission of notable critics who had taken the courageous initiative in letter-writing was deliberate. Clearly, the more forthright critics of the current dispensation were sought to be snubbed and isolated.
A file photo of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. | Adnan Abidi/AFP
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said he was “ready to work for the party as all desired” at a meeting with Congress “dissenters”, who had strongly called for an organisational overhaul in recent months, reported NDTV.
His statement rekindled speculation about the 50-year-old returning at the helm of affairs, as the party prepares to conduct internal elections so that a full-time president can take over from interim chief Sonia Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi said that he was “willing to work for the party as all of you desire”, according to senior Congress leader Pawan Bansal, who was present at the meeting. Asked whether Gandhi’s comment signalled his return as chief, Bansal said: “No one has an issue with Rahul Gandhi.. The process of electing a Congress president is in the process.”