The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 103

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The International News Weekly India July 19, 2019 | Toronto 08 No reconciliation with Sidhu, says Punjab Cong in-charge Chandigarh: Congress incharge of Punjab affairs Asha Kumari said there has been no attempt at any reconciliation with sulking party leader Navjot Singh Sidhu after his resignation from the state cabinet. She said that if Sidhu had any “perceived grievance, he neither took it up with chief minister Amarinder Singh nor her. Kumari, who accompanied Amarinder to meeting party MPs from Punjab in New Delhi on Tuesday, told TOI, “What is there to reconcile or reach out to him? It seems to be a perceived grievance. Nobody asked him to resign. He is a minister. The party gave him a cabinet berth and wants him to continue. If he doesn’t want to work, what can one do? Power is a bigger portfolio than local bodies as it is connected to every household in Punjab. Functioning of local bodies is limited to parts of the state.” She said if he had any grouse as a minister, he could have gone to the chief minister. “But he hasn’t done that, as per my knowledge,” she said. Without naming party president Rahul Gandhi, Kumari said Sidhu approached someone else and his demand was “trashed”. She cited the example of another cabinet minister O P Soni, who was also sore over losing school education portfolio in the same reshuffle. “He put forth his point to Captain saab and was assured that it will be looked into, and the matter was resolved. He also spoke to me, besides a couple of other ministers. We have to follow the party system. There is nothing that cannot be reviewed,” she said. Over a month after he I don’t even have a power minister, says Amarinder Chandigarh: I don’t even have a power minister,” chief minister Amarinder Singh said in New Delhi on Tuesday when asked about the proposal to set up atomic plants in Ropar and Bathinda. Amarinder, who met health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan earlier in the day, was meeting Union ministers and MPs for the second day in the national capital on Tuesday. While talking about the atomic enery plan, the chief minister said Punjab was yet to receive a proposal from the Centre for setting up the atomic energy units. Talks on the subject of using atomic energy for power production had been going on for long, but there was nothing concrete on the table yet, he told media. Asked what he felt about it, Amarinder said he would would have to wait for the formal proposal. “At the moment, I do not even have a power minister,” he said. Cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was reassigned power portfolio from local government after the Lok Sabha elections has resigned from the cabinet. A spokesperson said Amarinder had been personally monitoring the power department’s functioning on a day-to-day basis in view of the ongoing paddy season, which required continuous power. The state has been witnessing unprecedented peak demand for power in view of an erratic monsoon, leading to a shortfall in rain in some areas. Decision on Sidhu’s resignation remains pending Chandigarh: A decision on the resignation offered by cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, which was formally delivered to chief minister Amarinder Singh on Monday, continues to be pending on Wednesday. As on Wednesday night, sources said chief minister has still not reached Chandigarh from Delhi and could not take a call on the matter. Earlier, he had said he would decide after meeting MPs from Punjab in Parliament House on Tuesday and also after reading the resignation letter on returning to Chandigarh. Meanwhile, speculations were rife about the high command intervening in the matter to make both sides scale down and Sidhu, too, may be asked to come to Delhi. There was, however, no official confirmation of an attempt to make both sides bury the hatchet. “There has been no word from the high command to the chief minister yet,” said a source. On the other hand, sources close to Sidhu said there had been persistent attempts by the central leadership to make Sidhu come around to an amicable solution. Amid the turn of events, the meeting of the council of ministers scheduled for July 18 has been postponed to next Wednesday. “It remains to be seen if the chief minister will wait till the cabinet meeting to take a call on Sidhu’s resignation. Most cabinet ministers have already criticized Sidhu for his decision not to assume office as the power minister,” said a Congress leader. If he decides to accept the resignation, Amarinder would forward it to the governor for acceptance and in all likelihood fill the cabinet berth by allocating the power portfolio. was stripped of his previous portfolios, Sidhu had not taken charge of his new assignment, as a stalemate with the chief minister had continued. On Sunday, Sidhu had tweeted his letter of resignation from the state cabinet, which he had sent to Rahul Gandhi last month. Kumari said she was not aware of Sidhu’s resignation till now, even though he submitted it to the party’s national president, Rahul Gandhi, on June 10. She added Rahul otherwise might have discussed the issue with Amarinder earlier. Asked about Sidhu pinning hopes on the party high command for intervening for him, the party incharge said there was no question of intervention as he did not discuss any issue. “Logically, he should have spoken to the chief minister or me,” she added. Sidhu had waited for a month to make his resignation public and it shows that he was hoping for reconciliation. Rahul had asked party veteran Ahmed Patel to speak to both sides. However, when Amarinder met Patel for a “courtesy call”, he reportedly refused to discuss Sidhu. Amarinder had indicated hardening of stance on Sidhu by convening a meeting to review the power scenario in the state last week amid talk that he could write to the governor to withdraw Sidhu’s portfolio.
The International News Weekly india July 18, 2019 | Toronto 09 Pak to preserve 104 acres tilled by Guru Nanak Amritsar: Pakistan will not carry out any commercial activity or build any structure on 104 acres of fields surrounding Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib, where Guru Nanak Dev lived and farmed for 19 years. The announcement was made by Pakistan Punjab’s governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar after visiting the holy site on Tuesday, according to Pawan Singh Arora, Pakistan’s first Sikh public relations officer (PRO) to the Punjab province governor. This was a major demand of Sikhs across the world. The Pakistan government has included an additional 62 acres of surrounding land to the existing 42 acres of gurdwara land where no commercial activity would be carried out. This area would be preserved and used solely for farming and religious activities, Arora, who was quoting Sarwar, told TOI over phone from Kartarpur Sahib on Tuesday. Various Sikh bodies, including Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and foreignbased Sikh organisations had been demanding that the Pakistan government must preserve 104 acres of field where Guru Nanak Dev used to farm so as to protect its sanctity and serenity. The Sikh bodies have also been demanding that Pakistan must retain the natural and traditional state of the gurdwara instead of making it a standard marble structure. “The governor has assured to preserve the Sikh heritage and implement Sikh rehat maryada (Sikh code of religious conduct ) in the gurdwara and during pilgrimage,” said Arora. He said that Sarwar also inspected the ongoing construction work on the Pakistan side of the Kartarpur corridor and went up to zero line at international border with India. The governor also showed keen interest in walkways which the Indian devotees could use to walk up to the gurdwara. Quoting Sarwar, his PRO said that Pakistan had completed 80% work of its side of the Kartarpur corridor and was ready to accommodate any number of pilgrims from India. Uncertainty over Congress leadership set to linger on New Delhi: The uncertainty over who will lead Congress after Rahul Gandhi’s resignation seems set to linger indefinitely, with party managers unable to thrash out the vexed issue. Amid intense speculation about Rahul’s plan to leave for a week-long trip, senior party sources acknowledged that they will not be able to meet the deadline of July 20 they had informally set for themselves to settle the leadership question. “There is no consensus on any name,” a senior party said. The acknowledgement suggested that a plan to get a veteran, preferably a Dalit, to stand in until a member of the Gandhi family could be brought in to take charge, has run into unexpected problems, including resistance from those who prefer a young leader to take over the reins. Punjab CM Amarinder Si- ngh has twice publicly spoken against the plan to get a veteran who, as a party source put it, is safe and unlikely to create complications for the group who are likely to play the eminence grise. Sources also spoke about the emergence of another group which derives its influence from perceived proximity to Rahul and which has been smarting under the hold that the seniors enjoy over the party apparatus. The group has been calling for far more radical measures, including a purge at the top. Faced with pressures and counter pressures, party managers are exploring whether the selection issue can be put off for 2-3 months to be decided by holding elections for the top positions. As per the plan, one of several under consideration, K C Venugopal, general secretary in charge of organisation, could be authorised to handle routine issues in consultation with other office-bearers and members of the CWC. But there are doubts whether the stop-gap arrangement will be adequate for preparations for the forthcoming round of assembly elections and other challenges, including eruption of dissidence in state units, which keep proliferating as the party struggles to come out of the trauma of its defeat in June.
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The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 103

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