This is the Akali Dal's strongest attack so far against Modi, with whom it shared power in the Union government for several years before the farmers' movement in 2020 spoiled their formal alliance.

In the Modi era, the majority of Chandigarh voters have remained loyal to BJP. Tewari, who last won from Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib, will try to woo the young urban voter.

It is not an easy battle for BJP nominee Kangana Ranaut due to the constituency being a strong base of Vikramaditya’s family. Moreover, several BJP politicians are unhappy over the party's decision to field her by ignoring prominent local leaders.

Although Gandhi has been a staunch critic of the Aam Aadmi Party – which is with the Congress in the INDIA bloc – he said that “drastic steps” were needed to fight the BJP's “divisive politics”.

The apex court said the right to fair investigation needs to be protected. Punjab and Haryana High court had on March 7 ordered judicial probe after noting that the investigation cannot be entrusted either to Punjab or Haryana as both states have several things to cover up.

While the trend is visible across political parties, the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party appears to be a major beneficiary of “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” trend.

The regional party also wanted the centre’s intervention in the release of Bandi Sikhs — a major issue among section of Sikhs in Punjab — who had completed their jail term (Bandi Sikhs is a term used for Sikh prisoners languishing in various jails in India for their involvement during militancy in Punjab).

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, however, saw no damage to the party, saying Bittu's switching to the BJP will create space for new people to contest and take the Congress forward.

Local authorities initially thought the tragedy's impact was limited to a block in Sangrur district, but deaths began occurring from other areas too, showing the widespread distribution of spurious liquor (or hooch) in the district.

Currently, the Congress doesn't have more than 34 MLAs on its side, just on the fence of the majority mark (35) in the state assembly.

The matter relates to the circulation of bulk messages to millions of Indians onWhatsApp from 'Viksit Bharat Sampark', with a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi attached.

The death of Shubhkaran Singh has taken centre stage in the farmers' agitation – his mortal remains are being carried in a procession in order to assemble farmers against the incumbent BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Meanwhile, new Haryana chief minister Nayab Saini won the floor test in the assembly with the support of independent MLAs; JJP MLAs stayed away after party issued whip.

Another sign of the party's non-Jat consolidation came to the fore when it parted ways with the Jats-backed Jannayak Janta Party in the new government under Saini, which is primarily formed with independents.

Manohar Lal Khattar, along with his cabinet, resigned on Tuesday, March 12, as the BJP initiated the process for forming a new government in collaboration with independent candidates.

Singh, who is considered an important Jat leader of Haryana, hails from the widely known Chhotu Ram family. His father was in Congress for decades before joining the BJP in 2014, and also served as Union minister in the first Modi Cabinet.  He too may join Congress.

This averted a possible move by the BJP to unseat AAP mayor Kuldeep Kumar after he was reinstated last month by a historic SC order on the rigged mayoral polls.

The court's order of a judicial probe into Shubhkaran Singh's death nearly two weeks ago came after it was noted that both Punjab and Haryana had failed to initiate proper investigations into his death.

Meanwhile, the influential umbrella body Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which is not officially part of the ongoing Delhi Chalo call, has been gearing up for its ‘Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat’ in Delhi on March 14.

Fresh polls to senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts were necessitated after the Supreme Court last month overturned the results of the rigged elections and said that AAP-Congress candidate Kuldeep Kumar is the mayor.