oppn parties Sidhu Sounds A Warning For Congress High Command

News Snippets

  • Congress calls Election Commission's affidavit in the SC saying all decisions were taken unanimously as 'deceptive, deceitful and duplicitous'
  • Petitioners ask Supreme Court to order preservation of Election Commission's files and notings related to SIR
  • At least 89,000 people have been evacuated from vulnerable coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh as Cyclone Arnab intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal. The IMD forecast landfall on Wednesday morning with sustained winds of 115–125 kmph, gusting to 140 kmph, while 53 train services were listed for cancellation on October 27 and 28
  • Authorities deployed hundreds of additional security personnel in Arunachal Pradesh’s Siang Valley following violent protests against the proposed 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project near the Chinese border. Opponents fear the dam would submerge ancestral lands belonging to the Adi tribal community, while the project is also intended to address concerns arising from China’s planned upstream hydropower dam
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre on the Digital News Publishers Association’s challenge to provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and its rules. The publishers argue that the absence of a specific journalistic exemption could undermine investigative reporting and expose confidential sources; the matter is scheduled for further hearing on November 17
  • The Supreme Court gave petitioners additional time to respond to the Election Commission’s affidavit defending decisions connected with the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and fixed November 17 for the next hearing. The court also issued notice on a separate petition by Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen concerning alleged changes to Form 6 used for voter registration
  • The Bombay High Court quashed an FIR against a Pune college student who was arrested over an Instagram repost related to Operation Sindoor. The case arose from a social-media post concerning the 2025 India-Pakistan tensions
  • A Reuters poll of economists projected India’s GDP growth to slow from 7.7% in fiscal 2025–26 to 7.1% in 2026–27 and 7.0% in 2027–28. Economists cited higher energy costs and inflation risks linked to the conflict involving Iran, while warning that prolonged price pressures could constrain household demand and employment growth
  • Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan cautioned India against exhausting its foreign-exchange reserves to defend a particular rupee exchange rate. He said moderate depreciation could support exports, while warning that high oil prices and continued foreign investment outflows were adding pressure to the currency and the current account
  • Indian equity benchmarks ended nearly unchanged after a volatile trading session. The Sensex slipped 8.08 points to close at 73,598.67, while the Nifty 50 fell 3.45 points to 22,749.75, with elevated crude oil prices and caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s decision weighing on sentiment
  • Ranji Trophy: Bengal recover as Shahbaz Ahmed scores 121 and then took 2 wickets to put them in a commanding position versus Kerala. In other matches, Delhi were in a fine position against Jharkhand and Gujarat and maharashtra were evenly placed
  • India thrashed Bangladesh 13-0 in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey
  • Despite a brilliant come-from-the-back effort, India A were robbed of victory against New Zealand A in the first unofficial Test as the Kiwis ended at 187 for 9 (target 313) when play was stopped due to bad light
  • Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that India plans to amend its anti-doping law to criminalise the supply and sale of banned substances, including penalties for coaches and other participants in doping supply chains. The proposal was announced at a UNESCO anti-doping conference in New Delhi as India seeks to strengthen enforcement and support its bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games
  • India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in Wellington to take an unassailable 3–0 lead in their five-match T20I series. Abhishek Sharma smashed 113 off 38 balls, reaching his century in 35 deliveries, while he and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi combined for a record 118 runs in the powerplay
A stunning 113 off 38 balls from Abhishek Sharma drowns New Zealand as India chase 199 in 13.2 overs to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the series
oppn parties
Sidhu Sounds A Warning For Congress High Command

By Yogendra
First publised on 2022-01-12 09:24:14

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Yogendra is freelance writer

What Navjot Singh Sidhu told news reporters a couple of days back is absolutely true in a democracy. People elect their representatives in elections and then these representatives elect the chief minister who is the first among equals. But it was the manner and the context in which he said that was interesting.

Sidhu reportedly took umbrage when reporters asked him who the Congress high command will name as chief minister. Immediately, he countered that it was not the high command but the people of Punjab, through their elected representatives, who will select the chief minister.

In doing so, he undermined the position of the party high command and went against Congress traditions. It is no secret that whenever the party has gone to polls without a strong candidate as its face, the chief minister has always been 'appointed' by the high command. The 'election' by the MLAs is just a charade. It is all decided in Delhi and party observers descend on the state capital to drill that into the heads of MLAs who then obediently and unanimously vote for the selected candidate. It is not going to be any different in Punjab this time, if the Congress wins, despite what Sidhu thinks.

Maybe it is posturing on Sidhu's part as his burning ambition to be chief minister of Punjab is universally known. Hence, he is letting the high command know that if it comes to a crunch, he will have the support of a majority of MLAs and they will vote in his favour in case the high command has another candidate in mind.

Sidhu has already divided the state unit once by forcing Amarinder Singh to quit, first as chief minister and then from the party. The infighting has spoiled Congress' chances to win. Singh's replacement, C S Channi, has not given a good account of himself in the limited time he has had to repair the damage. With the opposition, especially AAP, upping the ante, Sidhu will do well to focus on winning the elections rather than rattling the party high command.