FROM THE STATES
Punjab: Family Business Daljit Ami Manpret Singh Badal formed his own party (PPP) after serving the present government as finance minister for four years, alleging that Prakash Singh Badal’s politics is nothing more than about promoting his

 

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ith political parties nominating their candidates, the battle lines have been drawn for the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab. Apart from the traditional political parties – the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Badal), the Bhara tiya Janata Party and the Congress – a third front has emer ged. This third front, or Sanjha Morcha, includes the newly formed People’s Party of Punjab (PPP), the SAD (Longowal) and the two communist parties. This is the first assembly election after the delimitation of constituencies which has led to much confusion as well as interest in the local political dynamics with most commentators expecting the anti-incumbency vote to get divided between the Congress and the Sanjha Morcha. (The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded candidates from all the 117 constituencies.)