ShiromAkali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday said that the party is ready to provide legal assistance to all the Sikh youth who are arrested by Punjab Police in their ongoing search hunt for fugitive Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh. Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal took to Twitter and said, “Shiromani Akali Dal has decided to provide complete legal assistance to all Sikh youth arrested in the ongoing extra-constitutional crackdown in Punjab and ensure their rights are not trampled upon by AAP Punjab”.

Shiromani Akali Dal has released the list of legal team helpline numbers: Arshdeep S Kler 8054200007, Harish Rai Dhanda 9814220300, Gurmeet S Maan 9815533999, Bhagwant S Siyalaka 9815250589, Amardeep S Dharni 9815000026, Jaspreet S Brar 8054800034, Parampreet S Bajwa 7814400060, Parambir S Sunny 9872360026, Zubin 9855572302, Ravinder S Sampla 9814474445, SHIROMANI AKALI DAL OFFICE 0172-2639256.

In another tweet, Badal said, “Shiromani Akali Dal strongly condemns the indiscriminate arrests of innocent Sikh youth, especially the Amritdhari youth on mere suspicion through resort to extra-constitutional methods. We demand the immediate release of all innocents arrested in the ongoing crackdown”. He further tweeted, “Shiromani Akali Dal stands for Justice and the protection of the rights of the Punjabis in general and the Sikhs in particular within the federal framework, with more powers to the states, a demand echoed now by other political parties too”.

Sukhbir Singh Badal further stated that by making these arrests ruling AAP government is trying to defame the Sikh community for communal polarization & electoral gains.

“SAD strongly condemns the puppet AAP regime in Punjab for the undeclared emergency and reign of repression & terror let loose in the state. We warn the govt against dangerous conspiracies to defame the most patriotic Sikh community for communal polarization & electoral gains.” Badal said on Twitter.Punjab Police on Tuesday said that they have arrested 154 people for disturbing ‘peace and harmony’ in the state, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Gill informed.

“A total of 154 persons have been arrested for disturbing peace and harmony in the state,” IGP Gill revealed at a press conference.

Lucknow: The ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government will join the recital of Durga Saptashati — the Hindu religious text depicting victory of Goddess Durga over demon Mahishasura — that are being organised in all prominent temples across Uttar Pradesh during the nine-day Chaitra Navratri beginning Wednesday.The ministers and BJP leaders will also be seen reciting the ‘Akhand Ramayan Path’ (uninterrupted recitation of Ramayan verses) on Ram Navami, following the culmination of Navratri on March 30.

The government’s decision to hold recitation of ‘Akhand Ramayan’ is being viewed as a counter to Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya’s campaign to seek deletion of some of the verses of the Ramcharitmanas, which the opposition party leader claimed were “anti-women and anti-backward”.

Jaiveer Singh, the minister for tourism and culture, said, “We will even request Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to join us in the recitation of Durga Saptashati and Akhand Ramayan Path in all prominent temples across the state. Invocation of Gods would help the country and the state and all must sink political differences and join us.”Singh would be visiting the famous Chandrika Devi temple in Lucknow for the recitation of Durga Saptashati on Wednesday.

“Other ministers and party leaders would also be visiting different temples across the state,” the minister said.

SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, said, “The government has decided to hold Akhand Ramayan Path as our campaign to delete some verses that clearly portrayed women and backwards in poor light, has found acceptance among the people.”It may be recalled that the Yogi Adityanath government has issued directives to all district magistrates to hold religious/cultural events in all prominent temples, especially those related to Goddess Durga.

“All these programmes would be organised by paryatan aur sanskritik parishad — a committee for holding religious, tourism and cultural events — that are there in each district. The government has allocated Rs 1 lakh each in all districts, but this is a token amount that would be increased as per requirements,” said the tourism minister.

BJP cadres will also be reciting the Durga Saptashati and Akhand Ramayan at various temples.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will meet her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on March 23 amid discussions on the formation of a Third Front ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.Though Banerjee prefers to call the meeting “a courtesy call”, as she will visit Puri on Wednesday after reaching Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, Trinamool insiders believe that a discussion on an alliance of regional parties is also expected. Patnaik, ahead of the assembly polls in the state, is maintaining equidistance with both the Congress and BJP, like the Trinamool Congress.

To take the discussion on the Third Front ahead, former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy will meet Banerjee at her residence on March 24, Banerjee said ahead of her visit to Odisha. Trinamool leadership has made it clear that the party will keep an equidistant stand from both BJP and Congress and Banerjee will reach out to other like-minded parties.

“The regional parties are very competent. Whenever regional parties meet, we discuss the federal structure of the country and various other issues. The central government creates policies while the implementing authority is the state,” Banerjee said.Recently, Banerjee held discussions with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, during SP’s two-day national executive meeting in Kolkata last weekend. Yadav had met Banerjee at her residence and discussed strategies for the coming Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav had said that ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the regional parties are trying to create an alliance or Front and Banerjee is working towards it. Telangana CM KCR and the Bihar CM are also proactive about the alliance of regional parties, Yadav had said.