Farmers Movement Archive

Regional buzz: A clueless BJP leadership in Punjab

With politicians from rival parties making a beeline for the BJP after the repealing of farm laws, the entire political operation appears to be carried out by the central leadership while the Punjab unit is always caught off guard when it comes to people joining the party. As has been seen in the recent days, it is just a few minutes before the press conference that the state leadership gets the information about these new entrants. In fact, when Akali leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa joined the BJP in the national capital, no Punjab leader was present at the press conference. One wonders if the central leadership does this because of its lack of trust in the state unit or because of doubts about capabilities of the Punjab leaders!Channi mocks Sukhbir over football skillsMocking Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi compared him with a football. Addressing a rally at Kotkapura last week, the CM said that after he played hockey, even Sukhbir tried to show his football skills in an attempt to imitate him.“Jado eh khed da si edaan nai pta lag reha si football kehdi aa te Sukhbir kehda aa. Meri reese nai honi ehde toh (While he was playing, it was hard to differentiate between the football and Sukhbir. He can’t imitate me),” remarked Channi. Last month, Channi played the goalkeeper in full gear while former Indian captain and his cabinet colleague Pargat Singh wielded the stick during the half time at the final match of a hockey tournament in Jalandhar. Sukhbir, who was in Phagwara for poll campaigning, played football in kurta pyjama at a local tournament. Congress leaders’ own goal Listing out his 60 achievements since assuming the office, Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi last week suffixed “Ji” to Lakha Sidhana’s name while mentioning that he had met the gangster-turned-activist and listened to issues raised by him. Seen as an attempt to woo Sidhana’s supporters, the move, however, invited a sharp reaction from within the party. “Gangsters mutate into activists, then politicians… are openly courted by political parties. But Punjab doesn’t condone sinister attempts to barter its hard-earned peace for votes. AAP learnt it the hard way in 2017. Yesterday’s utterance show that some haven’t learnt the lesson yet,” former state Congress president Sunil Jakhar wrote on Twitter, without naming anyone. Rahul: Bhai or Boss?The recent meeting of Punjab Congressmen with party leader Rahul Gandhi evoked much interest. While sharing photos with the Gandhi scion on social media, state party chief Navjot Sidhu addressed him as “bhai” while transport minister Amrinder Singh Raja Warring called him “boss”. Perhaps, it was an attempt to do away with the old ways of addressing the party’s supreme leaders and win over the younger generation.A deputy CM’s dilemmaThe home portfolio is consuming much of the time and attention of Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, while working of the cooperation department, which he had been heading already, has been apparently left to the bureaucrats. “As Punjab is a border state, law and order issues are very crucial; so I have to be on an alert always,” he recently told a reporter. When it comes to the cooperation department, he said he managed it by being in touch with the officers over phone, “as I could rarely reach out to them physically”. Moosewala’s poll ambitionsIn his Instagram feed, controversial Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, who was inducted into the Congress a few days ago, expressed his interest in contesting the Punjab assembly elections from his home district Mansa. It has caused ripples among party leaders in this Malwa district, who are wondering from which seat the 28-year-old entertainer might get the ticket. The political novice, who was taken in the party fold with much fanfare, has a huge following on virtual platforms and is expected to be a star campaigner to attract the youth.When Sidhu left cops red-faced Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Navjot Singh Sidhu recently addressed a huge rally organised by MLA Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa in his constituency Qadian. While praising Bajwa, Sidhu said: “Whenever he (Bajwa) warns any inspector, they wet their pants.” The comment left the police officials, who were present at the rally, red-faced.Handicrafts pull crowds at Gita festivalHandicrafts of 19 states are the centre of attraction at the International Gita festival that kicked off in Kurukshetra. Artistically designed handloom, bronze metal and meenakshi jewellery, cane and bamboo furniture, hand printed textile, wooden carving, terracotta pots, toys, stone carving, paddy and straw craft are drawing crowds in large numbers. About 125 craftsmen are participating in the festival, including national and state-award winners.Rathore takes jibe at BJP govt Himachal Congress chief Kuldeep Singh Rathore once again took potshots at the state government over the BJP‘s defeat in recently held byelection. Rathore during his Janjagran Yatra at Shimla said that Jai Ram Thakur-led regime was in a deep slumber and were woken up by this defeat.“It is now that they have opened their eyes and ears and suddenly have started seeing people’s problems and listening to their grievances,” Rathore said. He, however, reminded the public that all the announcements being made by the government were a gimmick as there is no budgetary provision to fulfill them. Changing tack to bypass gag After DGP Sanjay Kundu issued a gag order to prevent constables in Himachal Pradesh Police from airing their grievances on social media, the agitating cops have found a unique way to protest. The constables, who are protesting over disparity in pay, have blacked out their profile pictures on social media accounts. Meanwhile, their families have started a separate campaign, wherein they are positing their pictures with “Justice for HP Police” placards. (Contributed by Gurpreet Singh Nibber, Ravinder Vasudeva, Parteek Singh Mahal, Vishal Joshi, Anil Sharma, Pawan Sharma, Gaurav Bisht and Naresh K Thakur)

Hindustan Times

06-12-2021

Chandigarh