Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K : Political Discussions

"Tip Of The Iceberg": Amarinder Singh After 5 Congress Leaders Join BJP​

My best wishes to Balbir S. Sidhu, Gurpreet S. Kangar, Dr Raj Kumar Verka, Sunder Sham Arora and Kewal Singh Dhillon for taking a step in the right direction and joining BJP today," Captain Amarinder Singh tweeted

New Delhi:
Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh yesterday congratulated Congress leaders for joining the BJP, calling the move a "tip of the iceberg". Five Congress leaders and former ministers Raj Kumar Verka, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sunder Sham Arora, Gurpreet Singh Kangar and Kewal Dhillon joined the BJP on Saturday.

"My best wishes to Balbir S. Sidhu, Gurpreet S. Kangar, Dr Raj Kumar Verka, Sunder Sham Arora and Kewal Singh Dhillon for taking a step in the right direction and joining BJP today. This is just the tip of the iceberg," Amarinder Singh tweeted, in what was seen as alluding to more likely exits from his former party.

The Congress was voted out of power in the Punjab elections earlier this year. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, unseated the Congress with a big win.

Amarinder Singh left the Congress and formed his own party months before the Punjab elections. He has held the Gandhis responsible for the rout of the party in the assembly elections. Amarinder Singh had said the Congress was "comfortably placed" in Punjab before he was unseated as Chief Minister.

He has slammed the Congress Working Committee for trying to put the blame for the defeat in Punjab on him instead of "gracefully admitting" their "own blunders".

My best wishes to Balbir S. Sidhu, Gurpreet S. Kangar, Dr Raj Kumar Verka, Sunder Sham Arora and Kewal Singh Dhillon for taking a step in the right direction and joining @BJP4India today.

This is just the tip of the iceberg!
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) June 4, 2022
While leaving the Congress in November last year, less than two months for the assembly elections, Amarinder Singh in a fiery letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had made a series of questions and accusations against the party and its individual leaders -- including her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.


"...Despite knowing me for the better part of my 52 years in public life and that too at a deeply personal level, you never understood me or my character. You thought I was getting on in years and should be put to pasture," Amarinder Sing had said in the letter.

Two former Shiromani Akali Dal MLAs Sarup Chand Singla and Mohinder Kaur Josh, too, joined the BJP yesterday.

Balbir Sidhu, a three-time MLA from Mohali, was the Health Minister in the previous Congress government while Gurpreet Kangar, who is also a three-time MLA from Rampura Phul, was the Revenue Minister. Mr Verka, a prominent Dalit leader from Majha region, is a three-time legislator and was the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment and Minorities in the previous government. Sunder Sham Arora, a former MLA from Hoshiarpur, was the Industry and Commerce Minister in the previous Congress government.

All the four leaders lost the 2022 state assembly polls.
 
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Looks like the good old days ( of the 70's ) are back in Punjab with a new Bhindranwale like figure on the horizon with Pegwant Mann & pAAP doing what they do best. Offer freebies, get elected, make their money & governance be damned. And the people of Punjab just don't learn, they keep repeating the same mistakes the previous generations made. A state with the potential to be among the top most performing states in India is fast racing towards the bottom.
 

@Jaymax ; @Cole_phelps

This is a must read or rather must have book on the causes & effects of the partition of the Punjab assuming you share the same interstst as I do. The fact that the author is a Pakistani shouldn't be an inhibitor for rarely would you find such an unbiased & clear eyed chronicler & analyst of the entire saga of partition . Guess it's true what they say - the exception proves the rule & what an exception the author Dr Ishtiaque Ahmed is.

There's a small brief in the writing below the video giving you an introduction to the book.
 
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Looks like trouble's brewing in Ladakh. Btw as far as I know , the Aamir Khan character in 3 Idiots - Phunsukh Wangdu was based on this this gentleman . But it's only as far as I know.
 

Extremely rare interview of Lt Gen K.S.Brar the man who commanded Operation Blue Star in 1984 . Absolutely mandatory viewing especially for those born around the time of these events or later , to get a sense of what we were facing in the Punjab then , what was the general environment there , the options faced by the IA - all this from the horse's mouth as there are few interviews out there of this fine armyman .

At the age of 89 , he's still extremely agile as far his mental faculties go & just another thing before I forget - he's spent his entire retired life in the safety of various army cantonments given that he's still a marked man by Khalistanis , surviving an attempt on his life barely a decade ago by assassins who almost slit his throat .

What a huge price some people pay to clean up the sins of others ? !
 
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I hope all those who're born in the 1990s & later watch both these videos to get a sense of what it was to live in Punjab during the tumultuous 80's & 90's & how a semi literate charismatic preacher turned megalomaniac with no sense of political direction or wisdom burnt Punjab down while taking refuge in the holiest of their shrines organising assassinations like a mob boss under the garb of religion.

40 yrs later we're by no means there but in similar territory.
 

For a fee, S. S. Mann newly elected MP & separatist leader from Punjab issues letters to illegal emigrants from Punjab to the West which helps them get asylum, then join the ranks of Khalistanis, appear in reports & investigation panels conducted by legislative bodies in the host country who in turn use this data to malign India & try to corner us into acceding to their agenda. This is how the dice rolls. He ought to impeached by Parliament & sent behind bars.


 
Who Was Bhindranwale?

Very interesting discussion between Tavleen Singh & Kushal Mehra on the phenomenon of Bhindranwale. Tavleen Singh , herself a JuttSikhni , happens to be one of the few active journalists who's covered the incidents in Punjab in the pre & post Op Blue Star era who's seen interviewed Bhindranwale up close without being in awe of him , criticising him , not being awed by his persona & coming very close to being bumped off by his goons .
 

J&K integral part of India: Abdullah demands restoration of statehood​

National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Saturday stressed again that Jammu and Kashmir is an intergral part of the india and reiterated the demand for restoration of its statehood.

Addresing a press conference at Jammu, former chief minster questioned why elections were not being held in Jammu and kashmir. "It is very strange"

"Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. The people of J & K belong to this nation. We want statehood to be restored & elections to be held," he said.

Farooq termed the decision of the centre to downgrade the state into a union territory a "tragedy".

"First time in the history of the nation, a proud state was reduced to a UT, it was a tragedy," Farooq Abdullah, NC chief said.

NC Patron said that India is a democratic country where the laws of constitution should be adhered by everyone.

On being asked why elections were not being held in Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq said:" I do not have the magical wand to tell media why elections were not being held here.Donot ask me this question".

Former CM said that a delegation of opposition leaders is going to meet national leaders in the National Capital very soon. "We will decide weather the delegation will call on Prime Minister Modi and Home Minster Amit Shah".

Farooq slammed BJP-led Centre for failing to deliver 50,000 Jobs to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir as promised earlier. "How many jobs have you delivered".

From bulldozer politics to corruption to property tax being imposed in J & K, Farooq took a dig at BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "What is all this?"

"Youth in kashmir are being forced to move outside for job opportunities. Don't they have a right to employment here?"

Farooq alleged that Youth of kashmir were langushing in different jails across India."We do not know their whereabouts. "We are going to meet national leaders to apprise them about these issues. We will also raise such issues inside the Parliament".

"We want to seek a solution to solve the probelms of our people," he said.