Chandigarh Diary | Hooda, Selja in 1 frame at Rahul’s Karnal rally

Chandigarh Diary | Hooda, Selja in 1 frame at Rahul’s Karnal rally

Ex-CM Hooda’s free hand in deciding candidates in the majority of seats has been a point of contention, as Selja’s loyalists were denied tickets.
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The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and senior Congress leader Kumari Selja made a joint appearance at the Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi’s rally at Assandh near Karnal. Selja, a chief minister aspirant, and a party star campaigner, and the SC face, has been conspicuous by her absence for a fortnight. Earlier this week, the Sirsa MP said that she would begin campaigning on Thursday and kept her words. Ex-CM Hooda’s free hand in deciding candidates in the majority of seats has been a point of contention, as Selja’s loyalists were denied tickets.

Free-for-all between Warring and Bittu

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Union MoS for Railway Ravneet Singh, alias Bittu, have once again crossed swords, this time over Rahul Gandhi. Some time back, Warring had shared a video on social media calling Bittu “mentally challenged”. Rahul got him elected thrice as an MP but he betrayed him, he alleged. In retaliation, Bittu posted a video saying, “In the LS polls, I won from six assembly segments of Ludhiana but could not perform in three as farmers disallowed me from campaigning, or Warring would have lost by one lakh votes.’’

CM Mann stirs hornet’s nest on govt schools

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s comments comparing private and government schools have caused a stir. In a recent video clip, Mann could be heard referring to government school students as “sarkarians” and convent schools “conventarias”. He claimed that the government schools develop the overall personalities of students by making them decide between attending classes after recess or bunking classes. In response, LoP Partap Singh Bajwa criticised Mann, saying it seemed like a “clown had moved into the palace”. He accused Mann of showing disregard to the quality of government schools.

Harpreet Bajwa
Our correspondent in Chandigarh
hsbajwa73@gmail.com

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