KEEPING TABS ON POWER POLITICS IN PUNJAB, HARYANA, HIMACHAL PRADESH AND JAMMU AND KASHMIR
week, Bholath MLA and ousted leader of opposition Sukhpal Khaira, while hitting out at some of his party colleagues for not sticking by him, took a dig at a party leader by calling him “Bhabhi”. Though Khaira did not directly name the “artificial leader”, his remark created a buzz on social media with many people construing it as a reference to AAP state unit co-president Dr Balbir Singh. Also, some aficionados posted on social media posters of a Punjabi film, Balbiro Bhabhi. Made in 1981 on Punjabi folk legend of Sucha Soorma, it has a character, Balbir Kaur, nicknamed Balbiro, who was considered a villain. Khaira and Balbir don’t enjoy cordial relations and keep slamming each other. had to face a barrage of questions from journalists on the rebel group’s actions. Asked who were they (dissident MLAS) seeking autonomy for — state unit or legislature party — his reply was the “state unit”. On state unit co-chief Dr Balbir Singh, Sandhu said he was appointed by the central leadership without consultation. The next query was about his appointment as spokesperson of the AAP legislature party by Khaira. “My appointment was made because if Khaira were not there, we needed someone to talk to the press. It was LOP’S discretion,” he replied. Sandhu resigned from the post of spokesperson immediately after Khaira was sacked by the party. when former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, while addressing a rally in Tohana, said he would see to it that no one got the party ticket in lieu of money. His remarks were interpreted by some political observers, rightly or wrongly, as attack on a local leader, who is also an affluent businessman and belongs to party chief Ashok Tanwar’s camp. Reacting to Hooda’s statement, Tanwar later remarked at his rally in Kalanaur that he would ensure only a hardworking party member got the ticket and not a “favourite” of some leader. The crossfire provided ammunition to leaders of the ruling BJP who said that the Congress criteria for distributing tickets was clear from these statements. in 1963 and she got married to Jai Ram in 1994. Prem Kumar Dhumal has been lying low after his unexpected defeat in the assembly elections. Dhumal, who rarely visits the state capital, was in Shimla to attend the party’s core committee meeting the other day and made a quiet visit to Oakover, the official residence of chief minister Jai Ram Thakur. Both leaders dined together and discussed political issues. Speculation is rife that Dhumal wanted Jai Ram to accommodate his loyalists in the government. His supporters are upset over being “ignored” in the government.